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LECTURES 



YOUNG MEN 



ON THEIR 



MORAL DANGERS AND DUTIES. 



ABIEL ABBOT LIVERMORE. 
II 






NEW EDITION, 



BOSTON: 

JAxMES x\IUNROE AND COMPANY. 

1847. 



^-s^ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, 

By James Munroe and Company, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massacliu:ietts. 



STEREOTYPED AT THE 
BOSTON TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRT. 



TO 

THE YOUNG MEN, 

BY WHOSE INVITi\TTON THESE LECTURES WERE 
WRITTEN, 

BEFORE WHOM THEY WERE DELIVERED, 

AND AT WHOSE REQUEST THEY ARE NOW PUBLISHED, 

THEY ARE 

AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED, 

BY THEIR FRIEND, 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE 



The following Lectures were delivered during 
the past winter, on Sabbath evenings, before the 
young men of Keene, without distinction of sect 
or party, at their request. Much, therefore, of 
the style, and somewhat of the thought, take their 
form and color from these circumstances of time, 
place, and local wants and views. But as human 
life is every where essentially the same in its main 
characteristics, and as the moral exposures and 
obligations of early manhood are similar in all 
places, if not identical, it has been urged by the 
friends of the lecturer, that these plain counsels 
and cautions would, probably, do good beyond the 
sphere for which they were originally prepared. 
They are, therefore, published, not for the sake 
of any novelty of principles, or peculiar mode of 
presenting old and familiar truths, but simply with 
the hope that they may fall into the hands of here 
and there a youth, who will read them carefully, 
and be moved by them to lead a better and hap- 
pier life. If such should be the result, the highest 
wishes of the writer will be gratified, and his 
labor compensated. 

Keene, N. H., April 15, 1846. 
1* 



LECTURE L 

THE MORAL DANGERS OF YOUNG MEN. 



I APPEAR before you this evening, my 
friends and fellow-citizens, not of my own 
accord, but at the request of others. I come 
by an invitation received several weeks since 
from a goodly number of highly respectable 
young men of this town, without distinction 
of sect or party, to address them on the 
subject of their moral dangers and duties. 
Gladly and gratefully would I seize this 
and every opportunity to contribute my 
mite, however small, to the elevation and 
happiness of those in whom every lover of 
his country and kind must take so deep an 
interest. The time and labor, whatever 
they may be, will be most cheerfully given, 
if one iota of good can be effected, or if 
one spark of evil can be extinguished. It 
is a work of love ; and I would invoke all 



8 



THE MORAL DANGERS 



good thoughts and feehngs in the enterprise, 
and the aid of that Eternal Spirit which 
cooperates with human endeavors. 

But it is a difficult task, it must be con- 
fessed, so to address those who are entering 
on the threshold of manhood as to leave 
only good impressions, awaken right pur- 
poses, and effectually prompt to high duties. 
What to say, and what to leave unsaid, how 
to speak conviction to the understanding 
and persuasion to the heart, demands no lit- 
tle wisdom. The very directness of an ap- 
peal may recoil upon itself without effect. 
Formal harangues often move us less than 
a casual word. We brace ourselves up 
against the cannonade of a set exhortation, 
when a tone or a look might stir the 
deepest places of the heart. The imperative 
mode sounds austere to the liberty-loving 
spirit of youth ; and often it can ill brook 
the seemingly timid counsel that warns of 
danger, or the authority that imposes duty. 

But notwithstanding all these disadvan- 
tages attendant upon the position of a lec- 
turer to young men, I feel and shall presume 
that, in addressing you, I already have your 
good wishes, and the earnest of a candid 



OF YOUNG MEN. Vf 

hearing. This is indicated by the very re- 
spectful request before Deferred to, and by the 
number assembled on this occasion. As one 
still claiming to be myself a young man, 
though old enough to know by experience 
your trials and temptations, your joys and 
hopes, I would invite your attention to mat- 
ters of immediate and practical importance. 
It is my desire that you may forget the 
speaker in the transcendent interest of the 
subject, condemn nothing without considera- 
tion, accept nothing without reflection, and 
construe kindly what is kindly intended. 

It is needless for us to spend time to dis- 
cuss the important position which young 
men occupy, and the momentous influence 
which they are soon to exert upon their 
country and mankind. These are trite and 
common-place thoughts. I need not dwell 
on the fact of the lofty vantage-ground 
upon which you of New England stand in 
comparison with those of your age and sex 
in any other land. It is the theme of every 
fourth of July oration. Why, indeed, do all 
tongues and kindreds of men flock to our 
shores, unless they here find a more ample 
and favored sphere of existence ? Of the 



10 THE MORAL DANGERS 

myriads, which no man can number^ that 
are now emerging from their minority, and 
assuming their places on the stage of man- 
hood, in all parts of the earth, who can take 
precedence of you in point of privileges and 
liberties, means and motives to a noble and 
happy life ? Leaving out of view the bound- 
less wastes of heathen and barbarous re- 
gions, it is evident that in the so called 
civilized and Christian nations of Europe, 
there are castes and classes, old feudal 
usages and institutions, that throw an al^ 
most overwhelming weight on the gener- 
ous ambition of youth. As a man is born, 
so he must live and die. His condition is 
cast in iron, and the elastic spring of im- 
provement is never allowed to uncoil and 
act. The accident of an accident has de- 
cided for him most of the great questions of 
life. But before the youth of America a 
field is spread out as rich and illimitable as 
the prairies of the west. Art, enterprise, 
ambition, breathe an air as free as the winds 
of heaven, and draw upon resources as in- 
exhaustible as the fountains of our mighty 
rivers and lakes. Enjoying as we do such 
untrammelled liberty, it is incumbent on us 



OF YOUNG MEN. 11 

to beware lest freedom may degenerate into 
license ; and, blessed as we are with the 
possession of the inalienable rights of life, 
liberty, property, and the pursuit of hap- 
piness, to take care lest we may neglect our 
most solemn duties. 

In delivering this course of lectures, the 
object will be to select such topics as will be 
most interesting and profitable ; those that 
come home to our business and our bosoms. 
Theories are beautiful ; but they do little 
good while they lie like clouds along the 
high heaven, however gloriously they may 
shine ; only as they descend in the gentle 
rain, and the copious shower of nourishing 
wisdom and inspiring motives, do they be- 
come practically useful to society. 

While I would speak under the dictates 
of perfect kindness, I would speak with 
entire fearlessness. The character and hap- 
piness of the young require plain and frank 
dealing, and the spirit of youth ever loves, 
I am happy to believe, such ingenuous- 
ness. He cannot be your friend who only 
flatters with fair and pleasant words, and 
covers up the wound instead of probing 
it. My desire is not to please, so much as 



12 THE MORAL DANGERS 

to do you good. But if I utter censure, it 
will be untinctured with ill-will ; and my 
warnings will be dictated by the single 
wish to put you on your guard against 
evils, just as real, though not as apparent, 
as sickness or a fractured limb. 

The subject of the present lecture is the 
temptations and moral dangers of young 
men in village life. The following remarks 
would also apply, probably, with slight va- 
riations, to most other latitudes and longi- 
tudes of the country, if not the city. 

The young are prone to Recklessness of 
Character, and impatience under restraint. 
Not a few think it manly and honorable 
to disdain advice, and to spurn at control. 
This is natural to their quick feelings and 
ardent hopes. Little acquainted by experi- 
ence with the actual troubles and perils of 
human life, they are prone to think their 
wa.y is the best, and to do that which is 
right in their own eyes. Perhaps this very 
state of mind will lead some to regard with 
less favor the present course of remarks. 
They may deem them officious, and think 
they interfere imnecessarily with the tastes, 
habits, and pleasures, of those to whom they 



OF YOUNG MEN. iO 

are addressed. But do we not, however old 
or experiencedj need from time to time the 
voice of friendly warning ? We are all li- 
able to go astray, and we ought not to 
deem that the hand of an enemy which 
leads us back into the true way. 

The recklessness of youth is proverbial, 
and there is generally no weaker point in the 
character of opening manhood. But what 
renders this fault more difficult of cure is, 
that it springs from the popular qualities of 
spirit, courage, enterprise. These in them- 
selves are noble, and sit like a diadem on the 
brow of the young man ; but when suffered 
to have free scope, hardly any thing can be 
more perilous to virtue. 

Watch, therefore, against the excess. 
Pause, and ponder your course of con- 
duct. Remember that ^^ discretion is the 
better part of valor," and match your words 
with noble deeds. Think it not unmanly 
to '^'hear the instruction of your father, 
and forsake not the law of your mother," 
though you may have passed beyond the 
limits of pupilage. Reflect that in schools 
and higher seminaries of instruction, noth- 
ing is more graceful than a cheerful obedi- 
2 



14 THE MORAL DANGERS 

ence to the powers that be, and that he 
who would be sovereign even over him- 
self, much more over others, must first be 
subject. Respect the laws and wholesome 
regulations of public order, and beware, on 
all occasions, of giving countenance to those 
who would unchain the passions, and let 
them prey upon society in all manner of 
turmoil and disorder. Before resolving on 
an important step in life, be not ashamed 
to consult with your friends. Even if you 
do not follow their advice, it will be of 
great service in pointing out to you dan- 
gers, or in suggesting advantages, which 
you had not anticipated. 

Beware, therefore, of a reckless spirit, as 
one of the deadliest foes to your peace and 
prosperity. It will involve you in inextri- 
cable difficulties. It will prompt the hasty 
word, or perhaps the angry blow, for which 
you will afterwards feel the keenest regret, 
and whose stain not all the sweet rains of 
heaven may be able to wash white. Reck- 
lessness in business hurries on the failure 
of ninety-seven out of every hundred, who 
enter upon mercantile life. Recklessness in 
the intercourse of society hatches bitter feuds, 



OF YOUNG MEN. 15 

and leaves many a cureless sting of jealousy 
to rankle in irritated minds. It separates fast 
friends by an instant stroke, and shatters the 
slowly-forming confidence of good men in 
your worth and ability. Who has not 
lamented with tears the hot word and the 
impetuous action ? The work of a moment 
has been the repentance of a lifetime. In a 
wordj simple recklessness of character often 
does all the mischief of downright, malicious 
wickedness. The disposition expressed by 
the common phrase, ^^I don't care," never yet 
made any body wise, rich, good, or happy ; 
but it has made many foolish, needy, vicious, 
and wretched. 

And, in a community like ours, where 
there is the largest liberty and the least re- 
straint, there is especial danger from this 
quarter ; more, perhaps, than in lands of more 
rigid laws and customs. There is danger — 
and every young person that looks to his 
own best welfare will be thankful to have the 
alarm-note sounded — that, in the sanguine 
spirits of youth, and with the exhilarating 
applause of boon companions, he may go too 
fast and too far. He may be led on, in the 
indulgence of a reckless disregard of the 



16 THE MORAL DANGERS 

rights and feelings of others, to be guilty of 
conduct which will imbitter with a distinct 
woe every future day of his existence. 

The very independence of spirit connected 
with recklessness tends to make it a most 
fascinating quality in the eyes of unthinking 
youth. They admire the fearless bearing, 
the untamable energy, the indignant sense of 
freedom. Be on the alert, therefore, against 
a temptation that comes clothed in light. 
Discriminate between sterling courage and 
heedless bravado. Reflect that it requires 
no great genius to plunge into difficulties, 
but a true heroism to breast them. 

Next in order, and akin to recklessness, 
may be set down, as one of the besetting 
temptations of the young man, the proneness 
to admire what is Smart rather than what is 
Right. As the last-mentioned danger was 
the elevation of the animal impulses over the 
other faculties, so this is the preeminence of 
the intellectual over the moral nature. It 
is the admiration of what is showy, rather 
than of solid truth, the preference of great- 
ness to goodness. It is the same disposi- 
tion, carried out, that makes men less willing 
to be thought weak than wicked. This 



OF YOUNG MEN. 17 

fault may not be limited, any more than the 
former one, to one sex or age, but the im- 
passioned spirit of youth is more likely to 
make the mistake. It is the vice of the 
world, and the inexperienced only drink a 
deeper draught of the insane cup. It is this 
that leads men to enroll higher on the record 
of immortality their warriors than their wri- 
ters, and their writers than their saints. 
Passion is put before intellect, intellect is 
exalted above the moral nature. Bonaparte 
first, and Washington second ; Byron first, 
and Cowper second ; proud Lucifer before 
the humble carpenter of Nazareth. 

The admiration for mere greatness, irre- 
spective of the good or ill qualities with 
which it is allied, is a dangerous sentiment. 
The ambition to be reputed smart and tal- 
ented, no matter at what hazard, or by what 
means, is ruining great numbers of promising 
young men in our country, and making not 
a few very ridiculous. Reverence for genius 
is a worthy and an honorable homage to one 
of the most dazzling gifts of the Creator. 
But when, in our admiration of bold and 
brilliant qualities, we suffer it to blind our 
eyes to glaring vices, and lead us to honor 
2* B 



18 THE MORAL DANGERS 

mere intellectual power more than spiritual 
elev^ation of soul, we reverse the standard 
set up by the Creator, who has placed the 
moral nature at the head, and assigned it the 
dominion not only over the earthly appetites, 
but also over the mental capacities. So too, 
in rising higher, it is not the crowning at- 
tribute of the Deity himself, that his power 
is irresistible, and his wisdom uneiTing, but 
that his mercy endureth forever. His most 
frequent name is God, that is, ^Hhe Good." 
In our judgments of men, and our own 
structure of character, conscience should go 
before reason, as much as reason goes before 
passion and appetite. 

The false judgment now described would 
be comparatively harmless, were it not al- 
lowed to shape the aims of life, and to pre- 
scribe the choice of companions. It is 
selected for remark on account of its nox- 
ious practical influence in early life. The 
witty are chosen before the wise, the bril- 
liant rather than the well-principled* In 
the French we have an instance of a na- 
tional character formed on such a basis. 
And in all history and poetry, in the classics 
which are studied in our colleges, and in 



OF YOUNG MEN. 19 

the modern Satanic school of literature, so 
termedj this unfavorable bias of youth is un- 
happily too much fostered. But as it is at 
war with the character of God and the spirit 
of Christianity, the young man who proposes 
to himself the noblest style of conduct, will 
ever accord to the moral sentiment the high- 
est place in his respect, and while he is 
dazzled with the feats of the animal warrior, 
and the intellectual genius, will yet bend in 
lowly veneration before the saintly heroes of 
the right, and the good, who gave up their 
lives at the stake, and on the scaffold, rather 
than swerve a hair's breadth from being true 
to God and their own souls. 

While, in most respects, the moral dangers 
of young men have increased with the ad- 
vancing refinement of society, in one point 
we are happy in believing that they have 
diminished. The charm of the Cup is 
broken. The spell of Circe is dissolved. 
The gross abominations of these sensual in- 
dulgences have been revealed ; the arith- 
metic of woe has been computed ; and men 
have been somewhat awakened to the danger 
of this mother of sins. The Reformation 
which, commencing in good New England, 



20 THE MORAL DANGERS 

has circumnavigated the globe, has insured 
to some extent the sobriety of the youth of 
our community. They are not met at the 
evening party with the tempting offer of a 
glass of wine from the hand of beauty. 
Their companions do not so readily laugh 
them out of their good resolutions. The 
aged, with a fatal reverse of wisdom, do not 
so generally tempt them to a practice which 
has ruined successive generations. They 
are not waylaid and ambushed at every cor- 
ner by the Protean shapes and snares of the 
worst Satan that man has ever yet seen. 
Nobly, too, have our young men appreciated 
the blessing and rallied round the banner of 
Total Abstinence from all that can intoxi- 
cate. They have confessed the strength of 
the temperance argument, and yielded to the 
persuasion of the temperance appeal. But 
having done much, and well served, so to 
speak, their apprenticeship, it is hoped that 
they will now engage as journeymen and 
as master mechanics, and build up the tem- 
ple of Temperance to its pinnacle. 

For to purify the community of this 
evil, that cries to Heaven, is a work Avhich 
will demand all the generous devotion of 



OF YOUNG MEN. 21 

our youthj as well as the ripe sagacity of 
mature manhood and old age. Upon you, 
young men, it rests in a great measure to 
say whether intemperance shall still destroy 
wholesale the peace and prosperity of fam- 
ilies, degrade some of the brightest minds 
in the community to the lowest depths of 
depravity and woe, and entail on the future 
the murder, robbery, and suicide of the past. 
Many are still tottering on the brink of ruin, 
or hastening forward to the precipice of 
instant destruction. Even some of your own 
age are now contracting the dangerous habit. 
They scorn the idea of intemperance ; it is 
but one glass ; it is moderate drinking ; it 
is sociability; it is a proper spirit of inde- 
pendence ; it is for the sake of '^ auld lang 
syne ; " it is good cheer ; it is superiority to 
the superstitious fears of parents and friends. 
But whoever lives to see the afterpiece, will 
see ^^ another sight." It devolves on you to 
scatter these lying pretexts to the winds. 
They have cheated and ruined the floAver 
of youth, generation after generation. Let 
them no longer deceive and destroy. Break 
the spell of the wine-cup, as that of the rum- 
bottle has been broken. The clear, earnest, 



22 THE MORAL DANGERS 

and powerful voice of young men only needs 
to be raised, as — thank Heaven — it has been 
raised once and again, to plead for this cause, 
and it will as surely go on as the stars in 
their courses. A mighty influence is lodged 
in your hands, and for the use of that 
influence you are responsible in the sight 
of God and man. The ten talents have 
been given to you, and for ten you must 
render account. Society is looking to you 
for the signal of advancement and of victory. 
While the old behold with failing hopes the 
plans of reformation, and predict that the 
world is growing worse, it is to you, in 
whose youthful veins the blood dances to 
livelier measures, and thrills with all the 
animation of hopes unchilled, we turn in 
expectation of active and persevering efi'orts 
to subdue the niost gigantic adversary to 
human happiness. 

No observer of society at the present day 
can fail to notice a decay, to some extent, of 
that spirit of Reverence, which once, like the 
wings of a guardian angel, brooded over so- 
ciety in New England. The authority of 
parents and teachers is less respected than 
formerly. Men hesitate not to speak " evil 



OF YOUNG MEN. 23 

of dignities," and the names of our rulers 
are bandied about by the press as a foot- 
ball, at which every one must give a kick. 
The style of address is not, You are as good 
as I, but, I am as good as you. The evil 
has gone farther, and higher, and deeper; 
it has climbed up into heaven, and laid the 
hand of profaneness upon the throne of the 
living God, and gone down into the abyss, 
and plucked up the vocabulary of the 
damned to insert it in the dialect of every- 
day conversation. It tears the crown of 
honor from the brow of the Redeemer, to 
cast it into the slough of filthy and abusive 
speech. We can scarcely pass a knot of 
men or boys in the street, without having our 
ears tingle with pain at the ribald oath and 
the Heaven-defying curse. It is common as 
air ; men drink it like water. When the 
schoolboy is let loose from the instruction 
of useful knowledge, and the drill of a no- 
ble mental discipline, too often he is heard 
pouring forth a volley of profane words ; 
poor return for the unparalleled privileges he 
enjoys as a child of freedom. When the 
laborer is pursuing his work on a soil 



24 THE MORAL DANGERS 

which richly repaj^s every effort, and sur- 
rounded by ever-speaking mementoes of 
God in the living air, the flowing waters, 
and the holy light of heaven, how often, 
alas ! do we hear him vent his impatience or 
his anger, in terms at which angels weep 
and demons rejoice ! When the young man 
pursues his honorable and lucrative busi- 
ness under the smiles of a benignant Provi- 
dence, and the protection of just laws, and 
the approving opinion of his fellow-men, his 
frame knit with the perfect strength of man- 
hood, his cheek red with painless health, his 
home graced by love and the pledges of 
hope, — all things bright, and happy, and 
excellent, lavished upon his path, and throw- 
ing their radiance over the future, — how 
horrible the inconsistency, that this being, 
so favored of God and man, so loved, and 
watched over, and regarded, should use as 
his habitual style of conversation the lan- 
guage of the pit, — at which woman turns 
pale, and friends shudder, — and over which 
God rolled the thunders of Mount Sinai, in 
words graven upon stone, and handed down 
to all future ages ; '^ Thou shalt not take 



OF YOUNG MEN. 25 

the name of the Lord thy God in vain, 
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 
that taketh his name in vain " ! 

Such a custom is no mark of a gentleman 
any more than it is of a Christian. It is as 
far from good manners as it is from good 
morals. It brands a man at once in the eyes 
of all good judges as low-bred and vulgar, 
though he may wear broadcloth and gold. 
The first profane lisp reveals his want of 
true politeness as much as of correct prin- 
ciple. 

I appeal to you, my young friends, to 
guard against this almost universal vice of 
irreverence and profaneness, to set a purer 
example, and to introduce a better fashion. 
I call upon you to rectify the public opin- 
ion of your class, and age, and sex, in this 
respect. I ask you to reflect upon the sin 
and the folly of so depraved a habit. I 
implore you, if ever subject to it yourselves, 
to ask what is its nature, use, and effects, 
and to resist it, and conquer it, as the whisper 
of an evil spirit. I invoke your aid in pro- 
moting among your younger brothers, and 
companions, and fellow-workmen, the doc- 
trine of total abstinence from this immo- 
3 



V 



26 THE MORAL DANGERS 

rality. I urge teachers to guard their schools 
from this moral contamination. I beseech 
parents to keep a vigilant eye on the form- 
ing characters of their children, that this 
element of poison be not incorporated into 
the constitution of life. I call upon guar- 
dians and masters kindly to warn their 
wards and apprentices of this moral danger, 
as I have known some nobly do, as alike 
ruinous to character and respectability. In 
no particular is there a more bold and public 
defiance of the laws of God, and man too, — 
for there is a public statute sleeping among 
the laws against profaneness, — than in the 
custom under consideration ; and in no respect 
is there needed a more earnest and universal 
Reformation. May man in all good fidelity, 
and Heaven in its mercy, speed the better 
day ! 

But I pass on to speak of Purity of thought 
and conduct. For wise and obvious reasons 
the Creator has implanted in our breasts cer- 
tain powerful passions. Their legitimate use 
is for the welfare of the individual and the 
world. But they need the hand and eye of 
a master. They are instincts, and therefore 
act blindly and impetuously, and they will 



OF YOUNG MEN. 27 

run the character aground, unless reason and 
conscience sit at the helm. To preserve 
the mind ^'' pure in its last recesses/' and to 
guard all ^^ the chambers of imagery " from 
pollution, is a duty second to none other 
in the catalogue of youthful responsibilities. 
The spirit of innocence, once driven away, 
will never return. The tempter of impurity, 
when once admitted into the heart, will leave 
the slimy trail of the serpent upon every 
flower of paradise, and break forever the 
exquisite charm of that ^^ heaven which lies 
about us in our infancy." There is a dark 
flood pouring over the land, which is ingulf- 
ing thousands and tens of thousands of the 
young in its waters of death. Too often, 
alas ! the fashions of society, the customs of 
social intercourse, and the brilliant charms 
of poetry and fiction, enter into alliance 
with the enemy. Who shall recount the 
health undermined, the reason destroyed, 
the main-spring of manhood broken, the 
bitterness steeping the whole soul of the 
victims of this vice ? 

Shun, my friends, the licentious book or 
play, as reeking with a deadly contagion. 
Hold your breath, and pass lightly and 



28 THE MORAL DANGERS 

quickly over the foul passages strown over 
the works even of some of the greatest 
poets and writers, as the traveller hastens 
carefully across the dizzy rope bridges of 
the Andes, that swing over gulfs a thou- 
sand feet deep. Like rust upon the bright 
steel, the taint of impurity leaves a stain 
upon the soul that can scarcely ever be 
wholly ejffaced. Guard well your thoughts 
and imaginations from indulgence in the 
forbidden habit. There is a law against 
the sale of licentious pictures ; guard your 
soul against having any such pictures hung 
up in its hallowed temple. Give no wel- 
come to the sly jest, or the vulgar innuendo. 
Let the vocabulary of your words, as well 
as the register of your thoughts, be free 
from all manner of obscenity. Pardon me 
for thus speaking freely of one of the most 
fearful moral dangers which can beset the 
path of the young man. The hearts of 
multitudes will bear me witness that it is 
against no imaginary evil I ask you to be 
on your guard, but one leading down to 
the chambers of death. ^ 

In this connection may be appropriately 

* Appendix, A. 



OP YOUNG MEN. 29^ 

introduced some caution in the use of Books. 
There is a hterature now abroad among men 
whose breath is pestilential as the vapors of 
the Campagna. It cannot be touched with- 
out defilement. It cannot be read without 
certain peril and injury. It is the ^^ yel- 
low" literature; so called, and it deserves 
the name, for it is destitute of any green 
thing. It goes under the name of ^' cheap" 
literature ; but dear Avill it prove to him who 
drags his mind through its polluting mire. 
It is printed poison. It is the literal, not 
figurative printer's devil. I have told its 
history, when I say that it chiefly comes 
from Paris, though some of it is the product 
of minds in our own country. I know that 
I am not warning you of an unknown and 
imaginary danger, for there is an immense 
quantity of it sold in the United States, 
and its immoral influence must be extensive 
and powerful in drugging the youthful mind 
with ingredients more fatal than any con- 
tained in the materia medica of the apothe- 
cary. It lurks in hidden places in the cities, 
it creeps into the villages. Beware of it more 
than the sting of the adder, and flee from it 

as from the rattlesnake, 
3# 



30 THE MORAL DANGERS 

Butj independently of this vile trash, there 
is hardly any mistake young men are more 
apt to make than in their reading. They 
often have but little time to devote to this 
means of self-culture. But that makes it 
not less, but more imperative that they 
should select good books ; histories in pref- 
erence to novels, and biographies before 
plays, and essays rather than songs. It is 
the habit of using your leisure time in 
liberal studies, and in the acquisition of 
useful knowledge, which will aid you more 
than any thing else in taking a high stand 
in your calling, whatever it may be, and 
in preparing you to act your part honora- 
bly as American citizens. Seize every 
moment you can get in treasuring up a 
knowledge of the history and laws of your 
country; of the art or occupation you pur- 
sue, of general science, natural history and 
philosophy, ethics, and last, but not least, 
of theology; which, as an aged farmer 
once remarked to me, he had found to be 
^^a most happifying study." Let not your 
love of this mental and moral improvement 
ever flag. Let a generous desire of useful 
knowledge always burn in your veins. 



OF YOUNG MEN. 31 

Let some time every day, one or two or 
more hours, if possible, — if that is not practi- 
cable, at least half an hour, — be devoted, with 
religious strictness, to this elevation of the 
mind. Always have on hand some ^^ books 
which are books," and which you will not 
be ashamed to have it known you are 
reading ; keep by you, for the spare mo- 
ments, some work that will enkindle the 
never-dying intellect with great thoughts, 
and fire the immortal soul with magnani- 
mous sentiments. This will be investing 
capital where thieves cannot break through 
and steal it, and that will yield a steady 
and constantly-increasing dividend of hap- 
piness and usefulness. 

The only remaining point upon which 
time will allow me now to speak, is, of the 
proper observance of the Sabbath. That 
there is a great temptation to abuse the 
day of sacred rest, is apparent to all who 
live in this community. That there are 
many, both young and old, who are living 
in direct violation of that commandment 
which says, ^^ Remember the Sabbath day 
to keep it holy," is too plain to need 
proof. And that there is a disposition on 



32 THE MORAL DANGERS 

the part of some, though I hope not many 
young men, to misspend the day, must 
be my reason for the present remarks. Liv- 
ing, as many do, away from their homes, 
and no longer under the vigilant care of 
their parents, and in the wholesome atmos- 
phere of the affections of brothers and sis- 
ters, they are in danger of making the 
Lord's day a holiday rather than a holy 
day. When they meet their associates, a 
walk is proposed into the fields or woods, 
or a ride to some neighboring town, during 
the hours of public worship. In such cases, 
it requires more moral firmness than most 
young persons possess to utter a decided 
No. Indeed, the easy acquiescence of dis- 
position which is always inclined, on such 
occasions, to say, Yes, has resulted in the 
decline and fall of many a hopeful youth. 
Some, likewise, are tempted to resort to 
their ordinary places of business, to the 
workshop, or store, or office, and there gath- 
ering their associates, to while away the 
blessed hours of the Sabbath in novel read- 
ing or trivial conversation, or in sports and 
plays wholly at variance with the true use 
of the day. If an investigation were made 



OF YOUNG MEN. 33 

into this subject, I presume all would be 
astonished at the results which would be 
disclosed, of the violations of the Sabbath, 
the non-attendance upon public worshij>, 
and the desecration of the day of Heaven 
by questionable amusements, on the part 
of not a few of our youth. Far be it from 
me to bring an unjust or railing accusation 
against any, and least of all against those 
whom I would benefit, and not injure. But 
I speak from well-authenticated knowledge, 
and I appeal to the intelligence of those 
who hear me, if there is not a disregard of 
the Sabbath in the beautiful villages of our 
land, and among this favored community, 
which should excite our anxiety, if not 
alarm. For I know of no one test that 
more certainly determines the future pros- 
pects of a young man, than simply his ob- 
servance or non-observance, of the Sabbath. 
And wherever there is open and habitual 
neglect of this day, <.you may anticipate, 
with almost the certainty of the morrow^s 
sun, moral degradation, idleness, dissipation, 
and final ruin. How many a criminal has 
pointed to this, as the opening wedge of 
all immoralities and crimes ! How have I 

C 



34 



THE MORAL DANGERS 



heard the dying maiij in the last paroxysms 
of disease, harrow up his soul with the 
bitter remembrances of his misspent Sab- 
baths ! The blessed light of love and rest 
all about him, and he cold and rebellious, 
trampling on the wise regulations of human 
society, and defying the commandment of 
his God ! It is a fearful fate. Happy would 
it be, if those who are taking the same road 
would turn about before they reach the same 
destination ! 

It is my solemn conviction, that no man 
violates habitually the day which his Cre- 
ator has commanded him to remember and 
keep holy, without exposing himself to cer- 
tain loss of character. Prom observation, and 
from reading, which gives the fruits of others' 
observation, I am as well persuaded as I can 
be of any truth, that every Sabbath-breaker 
is also, more than other men, exposing him- 
self to temporal losses and injuries, as well 
as to moral declension and downfall. This 
law is ingrained in our flesh and blood, as 
well as upon the everlasting tablets of the 
spirit ; and woe, woe will be to him that 
thinks to put aside the finger of the Al- 
mighty, and go his own wild way. 



OF YOUNG MEN. 65 

The habit of attending pubhc worship, 
as connected with the observance of the 
Sabbath, is also of vital consequence. I am 
happy to believe that a good portion of the 
young men of our community are in the 
habitual discharge of this duty to God and 
their own immortal natures. But there are 
exceptions, and many may be liable at 
times to negligence in this respect, and 
need a word of admonition or encourage- 
ment. It is important that every one 
should have some regular place of worship. 
I do not stand here to recommend to you 
to go to this church or to that, but to at- 
tend habitually and punctually at some 
church, the church of your faith and choice ; 
or, if none such offer itself, then at that one 
most in harmony with your own feelings. 
Every one should have his seat, and that 
seat should be filled on every returning 
Sabbath. And not only attend to this 
duty yourselves, but as companions and 
friends, as social beings, and therefore ex- 
erting an untold influence over one another, 
invite others to join you, and walk to the 
house of God in company. There is, as 
all witnesses testify, an increasing respect 



36 THE MORAL DANGERS 

and observance in this land for the holy 
day. It is an omen of incalculable good. 
But it depends upon those now taking 
their places in life to decide, in a great 
measure, whether this reformation shall go 
forward. I invoke the ingenuous spirit of 
youth, and I do it with confidence, to 
promote and uphold an institution which, 
in terms not too strong, has been called 
'' the right hand of God." 

But I turn from young men to others, to 
entreat their cooperation in this important 
work. A solemn duty, and one which they 
cannot shake off, devolves upon parents, 
and in this community, especially, on guar- 
dians and masters. In the first place, they 
ought to see that - their - own example is 
miexceptionable. And next, they should 
provide pleasant homes for those under 
their care, and furnish a good supply of 
interesting and useful books ; that there may 
be less temptation to resort to the shop or 
store on the day of rest, and, in company 
with their associates, to spend the time in 
levity and sport. They ought to aid them 
to attend public worship habitually, to take 
pains that they do not go unprovided with 



OF YOUNG MEN. 37 

seatSj and be obliged to depend oil the chance 
generosity of a friend ; and if they are not 
better sons, apprentices, and wards for all 
this care, all observation is false, all wit- 
nesses deceive. I hesitate not to say, that 
there is culpable remissness in duty where 
these things are neglected ; and those who 
have taken no pains to mould and elevate 
the characters of those committed to their 
care, and laboring for them, must not be 
surprised to see vice and insubordination 
breaking out like a flood. What should we 
think of that master or guardian, who looks 
only to the pecuniary advantage to be de- 
rived from the lads placed with him to 
learn a trade, and to prepare for a useful 
and honorable life ; and that, too, at the 
most impressible and critical period of youth, 
when the spirits are lively and pleasure is 
tempting ; and takes no pains to promote 
their intellectual and moral welfare, and to 
make them not only good hatters, or sad- 
dlers, or bookbinders, or printers, or clerks, 
but real men, worthy of their country and 
of their age ! We rejoice that there are some 
in this community who could be mentioned, 
who faithfully and fearlessly discharge their 



38 THE MORAL DANGERS 

duty in this respect, and who are worthy of 
all honor for the noble stand they have 
always maintained on this point, and for 
their unwearied exertions for the good be- 
havior of those under their charge, and 
their improvement and preparation for life's 
future scenes. May they be multiplied a 
hundred fold ; and may they experience, in 
the regard which is paid them by many 
whom they have fitted for respectability 
and usefulness, as well as for a successful 
pursuit of business, an abundant reward for 
all their care and fearless discharge of 
duty ! 

But not to dwell further on the duties 
of the Sabbath, learn to regard and love 
it, my friends, as a great and blessed priv- 
ilege. Welcome with delight the return 
of its hallowed hours, which breathe peace 
and rest over this toiling world. Discern 
in its appointment the wisdom and mercy 
of Him who knoweth our frame. Asso- 
ciate with it all happy and holy thoughts. 
Study to use it as a precious gift, bestowed 
by the Most High for your present relief 
and your eternal blessedness. And be as- 
sured, that, if you make it a fixed rule to 



OF YOUNG MEN. 39 

attend public worship on this day, to read 
first the Holy Scriptures, and then such other 
books as shall explain, enforce, and impel 
you to perform your duties to God and man, 
to your own soul, and to your Savior ; if 
you habituate yourselves to doing good on 
this day, as you may have the ability and 
the opportunity, among the poor, the sick, and 
the afflicted, or in the noble enterprises of 
moral reformation and philanthropy ; if you 
faithfully employ the proper hours for private 
prayer, self-inquiry, and devout meditation, 
— exercises which no young person can omit 
without suffering deterioration of character, — 
then you will experience that it is, indeed, the 
first and best day of the week. It will dawn 
upon you as one of the veritable days of 
heaven ; its hours will prove as golden links, 
binding your souls more closely to duty, 
happiness, and God; and you will see, with 
all the feelings with which you bid farewell 
to a friend, its tranquil sun setting behind the 
western mountains. 



LECTURE II. 



THE MORAL DANGERS OF YOUNG MEN. 



In my former lecture, after alluding to the 
unexampled blessings enjoyed by the young 
in this country, I laid before you some of 
the moral dangers which beset their path. 
I propose, on the present occasion, to describe 
others not less in magnitude nor less fatal 
in their influence upon those who do not 
guard against them. I believe them to be 
real, not imaginary dangers. They are not 
the bugbears conjured up of a winter's eve 
by a morbid apprehension, but the stern and 
real foes of broad daylight and every-day 
life. They do not come, indeed, with '^ note 
of preparation," and clothed in a tangible 
shape of flesh and blood ; they would be 
less to be dreaded if they did. But they 
steal, creep, dart, spring upon their victim 
in the moment of fancied security. They 



THE MORAL DANGERS OF YOUNG MEN. 41 

meet him in the retired chamber and on the 
sidewalk ; in the hours of labor and busi- 
ness, and within the social circle. Though 
they may present no hideous or disgusting 
appearance to the mind's eye, but glide in 
among the thoughts like angels of light, 
they are in truth just as substantial enemies 
to your peace, as if they entered the village 
in martial array, and, penetrating your homes, 
and shops, and offices, struck to the heart the 
mortal blow. Do we not every where meet 
the victims of this moral warfare — wounded 
and crippled, like the survivors of some old 
war, and bearing in face and form the 
marks and scars of battle ? You, my young 
friends, may deem your fresh and glorious 
youth invulnerable to these attacks ; but so 
thought once those who are now suifering 
the consequences of their sins in mind and 
in body. They scoffed at the idea of dan- 
ger. They mocked at fear. They never 
dreamed, or only dreamed, that they should 
ever become the poor battered and broken- 
down beings, who crossed their path, with 
despairing hearts and ruined characters, tot- 
tering with dissipation and disease to a loath- 
some grave. They staked their youth 
4# 



42 THE MORAL DANGERS 

against the world, and lost the play. Hope 
was gay, and ambition was high, and they 
heeded not the peril. They enlisted in the 
army, and marched to the battle-field with- 
out the shield and helmet of principle and 
prayer ; and when the tremendous shock 
came, and the enemy charged home with all 
his allied forces, they fell, and great was their 
fall. The noble chivalry of youth, the 
flower of opening manhood, the towering 
crest of glory, went down in the tumult of 
the fight, and were trodden into the dust by 
the rushing legions of destruction. No dan- 
ger ! It is the stratagem of the adversary. 
It is the lure to betrayal. Be on the alert, 
that you do not give heed to the false words. 
There is danger ; and you cannot be too 
early, or constantly, or keenly alive to it. 
When it will do for the sailor to hoist every 
sail, and head his ship to the iceberg ; when 
it will be thought generalship for the com- 
mander to encamp his forces in the pres- 
ence of the well-appointed army of his foe 
without guard or trenches ; when the phy- 
sician has learned to defy disease, and take 
no precautions for its removal or resistance ; — 
then, and not till then, will it do to scout at 



OF YOUNG MEN. 43 

the warning of danger in youth. What is 
experience, indeed, but a powerful witness to 
the vakie of circumspection ! What is the 
Past but a recorded journal of admonitions 
for the Future ! What are the unwritten 
memoirs and biographies of our friends and 
neighbors, but so many lessons engraven 
upon the heart, to warn us of the path of 
ruin ! 

And if there be moral peril of various 
kinds, and fearful amount, encompassing our 
way, it is not cowardice, it is courage, to 
confess it ; it is manliness to meet it pre- 
pared. It is true, to use the simile of Cole- 
ridge, that ^^ our own experience is a light in 
the stern of the vessel, which only shows 
the dangers which have been past," not 
those which are to come ; but the experience 
of others, would we only heed it, could 
throw a light forward as well as backward 
upon our path over the dark waters. 

The first snare to the virtue of the young, 
which I shall now speak of, is included un- 
der the terms Fashion and Popularity. You 
are often told to beware of bad associates, 
for ^^evil comnmnications corrupt good man- 
ners." The temptation is great, the advice 



44 THE MORAL DANGERS 

is good. The choice of companions is often- 
times the hinge on which the whole charac- 
ter turns. Whether you associate with these 
or with those young persons, may make all 
the difference between success and ruin. 
You take great pains in the selection of a 
ring or a Avatch, which is to be your orna- 
ment through life ; how much more needful 
to choose such friends as will perpetually 
breathe upon you a good influence ! For 
there is a constant process of assimilation 
going on between those who are bound in 
the ties of mutual love and intimacy. But 
these topics are familiar to all ; let us turn to 
the one already mentioned, which is seldom 
considered, the public opinion of youth — 
the judgment and cast of feeling prevailing 
among those of your own' age and class. 
This exerts a powerful influence either for 
good or evil. It is more certain in its effect 
than the opinion of all the rest of mankind, 
because it is near, and closes all over and 
around the young man. He breathes it, and 
drinks it. It is well nigh omnipotent to con- 
trol his opinions and actions. He can set at 
nought the feelings of all other men more 
easily than the standard of what is fashion- 



OF YOUNG MEN. 45 

able and popular in his clique of ten, twenty, 
or forty young friends and acquaintances. 
If they are accustomed to act in a certain 
way, he must do the same. If any practice 
or amusement is in vogue among them, he 
must conform or lose caste. If they drink, 
he must drink. If they SAvear, he must 
swear. If they gamble, he must gamble. 
If they break the Sabbath, he must do the 
same. Men often wonder that their good 
advice to the young has so little apparent 
effect. The secret is contained in a nut- 
shell. It is because this despotic public 
opinion of the school, shop, bar-room, or 
coterie, utterly neutralizes all that may be 
said by parents, guardians, and lecturers. 
They hear the good word of truth, and it 
has a momentary impression ; but they turn 
the next corner, and meet with a group of 
their associates, and the first laugh or sneer 
will scatter it to the winds. They can stand 
cannon-balls easier than that formidable 
artillery. Correct that public opinion Avhich 
prevails among the young, and which makes 
it honorable and manly to do what in the 
eyes of the rest of society is both unman- 
ly and dishonorable, and the whole work 



46 THE MORAL DANGERS 

is done. It is an age Avhen truth is liable 
to be estimated by votes, and principles 
decided by majorities. What is popular 
is too often regarded as synonymous with 
right, and legal as another term for lawful. 
We are governed, in this country, by public 
opinion, from the youngest to the oldest, 
and therefore the necessity that, in all quar- 
ters, that opinion should be pure and high- 
toned. I call upon you, young men, to ele- 
vate the public sentiment that prevails among 
you, and in a great measure governs you. 
For if corrupt, it will corrupt you ; but if 
sound, it will be a shield to your virtue. 
But never yield up to it one conviction of 
the heart, one dictate of conscience. It is 
a tyrant ; and, if you would not be a slave, 
you must not be afraid to stand alone with 
the right, rather than ^'follow a multitude to 
do evil." One whisper of an approving con- 
science is sweeter music than all the thun- 
ders of applause ; one pang of remorse, 
sharper than the hisses of a thousand oppo- 
nents. Be true ; be independent. Have 
strength of mind enough to mould the opin- 
ion of your class and age to what you feel 
to be right, and not be warped and crooked 



OF YOUNG MEN. 47 

by it to practices you loathe. Sooner cut 
off a right hand, or pluck out a right eye, 
than tamely crouch to meanness or vice for 
the pitiful reward of pleasing those with 
whom you live, or with whom you are asso- 
ciated, at the expense of making shipwreck 
of faith and a good conscience. There is 
no greater spectacle of moral grandeur, than 
a young man rising above the petty follies, 
and the vile habits, with which he may be 
beset, and, true as the needle to the pole, 
daring singly to be just ; and in time, by the 
force of character, and in the exercise of a 
fearless moral courage, elevating the public 
opinion of his fellows to the lofty standard 
of truth and right. Tell me not of the lau- 
rels of the conqueror ; they are crimsoned 
with blood and wet with tears. Tell me 
not of the fame of rulers and statesmen j it 
is often purchased by fearful sacrifices of 
truth and compromises of duty. Give me 
in preference the crown of honor, which that 
young man wins and wears, who has held 
fast his integrity and dared to be free. 

I pass to the consideration of another dan- 
ger to your characters and happiness — the 
love of Amusements. I am not about to 



48 THE MORAL DANGERS 

Utter any tirade against proper recreations. 
The spirit of youth delights in pastime. 
The heart beats quick time. The limbs are 
elastic, and the nerves thrill to the touch of 
pleasure. The bosom runs over with glad- 
ness. All sounds are music, all sights beauty, 
all experiences fresh and enchanting ; com- 
panion meets companion, and joy speaks 
from eye to eye, and from heart to heart. 
And I as much believe that the kind Creator 
of so much joy intended that the young 
should have their pleasures, as he did that 
the squirrel should skip and the robin sing. 
I should as soon think of attelnpting to stop 
the flowers from blooming, and the fields 
and woods from growing green, as of laying 
an embargo upon all the amusements of 
youth. They are refreshments by the dusty 
road-side of life. They are enliveners of 
the spirits and social feelings. All ought to 
have their recreations, if they would not 
grow superannuated before their time. The 
question is not, therefore, as it has been unfor- 
tunately stated, sometimes, between amuse- 
ments and no amusements, but between 
those which are harmless and those that are 
hurtful. But, with all this keen zest of youth 



OF YOUNG MEN. 49 

for pleasure, and with its rainbow hopes, 
it is plain, that the critical danger is in 
the too much, not in the too little. And 
without entering into a long discussion here 
as to the various popular amusements of our 
country, upon Avhich there is much difference 
of opinion, let me say that, when they en- 
danger the health, absorb much time, break 
up the regular routine of duty, and give one 
a distaste for the quiet of home and for com- 
mon every-day labors ; when they are more 
expensive than our means will justify ; when 
they are of questionable moral tendency in 
society, and occupy the heart with sensual 
enjoyments, to the exclusion of the love of 
God and the practice of virtue, it is time to 
pause and ask one's self where all this will 
end. The world is not so barren of beauty 
and of bliss, that we must, to recreate our 
spirits, drink of the foul sediment of corrupt 
pleasure. When every sunbeam is winged 
with glory, and every snow-flake drops down 
as if it were a benediction from the skies ; 
when, in our daily walks, so much of glad- 
ness meets us at every turn ; when, even in 
our labors of hand and head, there is often 
mingled so much of still, steady happiness ; 
5 D 



60 THE MORAL DANGERS 

when, in our homes, the air is so full of love 
and enjoyment ; when, in music, in books, in 
innocent sports and games, in the walk, the 
ride, the social festivity, such ample and 
various means are provided for all reasonable 
exhilaration, who would, in his better mo- 
ments, wish to plunge into the giddy whirl 
of fashionable dissipation ? The laugh may 
be louder ; but it will leave a scowl behind. 
The jest may be broader ; but it will dissolve 
the charm of innocence. The draught may 
be deeper ; but it descends to the dregs of the 
cup. The pleasure may be exquisite for 
the moment ; bat, '' at the last, it biteth like a 
serpent and stingeth like an adder." Who 
has not paid for seconds of delight with 
hours of remorse ? It is the farthest from 
my wish or effort to diminish one drop of 
the cup of youthful happiness ; but my sole 
desire is, to keep that crystal goblet of the 
true elixir of life from being spilled in youth, 
so that it may contain a cordial for the 
graver scenes of manhood and age. It is a 
pleasant sight to see the happiness of the 
brute creation, the gambols of the calf, 
and the friskings of the lambs ; and to hear 
the lively songs of birds ; but how much 



OF YOUNG MEN. 61 

more beautiful to see children and youth, full 
of joy and laughter, in their innocent recrea- 
tions ! If any thing of the paradise of Eden 
has survived in the earth, you may see a 
gleam of it in a group of happy youths, and 
be ready to say. Surely the tempter has not 
yet come. O that he Avould never come, 
and dash all this bliss into a thousand pieces ! 
And the very question involved in this sub- 
ject of amusements is, What shall make the 
happy always happy, the young always 
young, if not in body, yet in spirit? Where 
is the secret of eternal youth and beauty 
hidden, but in the temple of virtue ? '^ Rev- 
erence," says a wise German, '' the dreams 
of your childhood." They have more in 
them than the world gives them credit for. 
And, if not falsified by the base indulgences 
of the senses, and the dizzy round of corrupt- 
ing pleasures, they will be succeeded by 
increasing prophecies of good, and by ever- 
brightening glimpses of the grand possibili- 
ties of your being. 

I have already, on a previous occasion, 
touched upon the temptations of drinking, 
which are connected with the love of amuse- 
ment and excitement in youth, and I pass 



52 



THE MORAL DANGERS 



now to consider some other dangers to 
"mind, body, or estate," from the same 
source. The first is Gambling. This evil 
may not be very general, but it is certainly 
very powerful, and perhaps more general 
than many suppose. The mischiefs arising 
from this practice are so often portrayed, that 
vain would it be for me to add brightness 
to the sun, or speed to the lightning ; for, 
evident as the one, and terrible as the other, 
are the scathings of this vice. Whatever 
of pecuniary gain there may perchance be 
in the few, rare, and most successful cases, is 
outweighed, a thousand fold, by the wreck 
of moral principle. But, as an almost uni- 
versal rule, gambling is the short road to 
poverty no less than vice. There is no real 
increase of property. There is no. equitable 
transfer of it, as in barter, trade, and labor. 
What is gained is gained without equivalent, 
and what is lost is lost without compensa- 
tion. It is but an honorable kind of robbery, 
an accredited swindling. Say not that those 
only play, who choose the sport. The 
young and unwary are drawn into the excite- 
ment by the bait of temporary success. No 
artifice is thought unfair in this work of de- 



OF YOUNG MEN. 63 

pravity. The dice are loaded, the cards are 
marked, the tables are prepared, the tallies 
are corrupted, to cheat the simple youth. 
Let any one read Green's '^ Gambling Un- 
masked," written by one who had pursued 
the business for years, and he will see that 
no stratagem is left untried to entrap those 
who have money, and draw them into the 
vortex of ruin. The places of this infamy 
in the cities are appropriately called ^' hells." 
They may be elegantly fitted up with Brus- 
sels carpets, rose-wood tables, mahogany 
chairs, and magnificent mirrors and lamps ; 
the board may be crowned with glittering 
piles of gold and silver coin ; and none may 
be seen in the establishment but handsomely 
dressed and polite gentlemen ; but, notwith- 
standing all these fair appearances, they are 
^^ hells" in reality; ^^ hells" of ruin, of re- 
morse, and death. 

It may seem needless to speak of this 
subject here. There are no such places in 
our quiet country villages. True, there are 
not. But there is gambling here ; there is 
the play for money ; none can deny that ; and 
though it is begun in an humble way, in the 

bowling-alley or at the card-table, it does 
5# 



54 



THE MORAL DANGERS 



not end here. The passion once gratified 
grows stronger ; the habit, being formed, coils 
round and round the young man, like the 
monstrous snake around liaocoon, until he 
is bound hand and foot. Many of our young 
men are flocking to the cities to seek fame 
and fortune. I can recount numbers who 
have thus left this place and the vicinity 
within the last ten years. And whatever 
they have done a little of in the country, of 
that they will be likely to do much more in 
the city. If they have sipped here, they 
will drink there. If they walked here, they 
will run there. If they have spent one dol- 
lar in gambling in the country village, they 
are prepared to spend one hundred in Boston 
and New York, in the same way. Are these 
visionary evils ? You know they are not. 
You know the old and oft-repeated tale of 
play, lottery tickets, and amusements ; the 
clerk defrauding his master, and purloining 
goods and money to support his follies ; and 
then the afterpiece of suicide or the State 
Prison. In no respect is it more necessary 
than here to ^^ resist the beginnings " of evil. 
Our young men, going forth as they do 
every year to our rapidly increasing cities on 



OF YOUNG MEN. 55 

the seaboardj and to the south and the 
westj need the whole panoply of virtue ; for 
no parent can tell to what fearful temptations 
they may not be exposed, of the gambler and 
the strange woman — of the intoxicating cup 
and the midnight debauch. Gambling is the 
forerunner to a host of vices ; and he who 
began to play for a cent or a sixpence may 
end in staking his soul on the giddy chances 
of the game, and wrecking at once his tem- 
poral and eternal felicity. 

In this connection, I cannot forbear advert- 
ing to one practice which is very fashion- 
able in the land, but which many would 
doubtless be happy to be Avell rid of, if they 
could summon up moral resolution enough 
to break their chains. It is a custom which, 
as has been said, has thrown nearljr the 
whole people, as a stranger might suppose, 
into a state of salivation; and which makes 
one desire that the inscription which Ma- 
dame Calderon found on a tablet in one of 
the churches in Mexico, might be put up in 
every church, court-room, school-room, and 
hall in these United States : ^^ For the love 
of God, all good Christians are requested not 
to spit in this place." But that I mav not 



66 THE MORAL DANGERS 

seem to be travelling out of my own profes- 
sional province as a moral lecturer, in animad- 
verting upon the use of Tobacco, I will quote 
the words of a celebrated physician, Dr. 
Woodward, of Worcester,^ from his last 
Report of the State Lunatic Hospital. Dr. 
Woodward says, '^ Tobacco is a powerful nar- 
cotic agent, and its use is very deleterious to 
the nervous system, producing tremors, ver- 
tigo, faintness, palpitation of the heart, and 
other serious diseases. That tobacco cer- 
tainly produces insanity, I am not able posi- 
tively to observe ; but that it produces a pre- 
disposition to it, I am fully confident. Its 
influence upon the brain, and nervous system 
generally, is hardly less obvious than that of 
alcohol, and if used excessively is equally in- 
jurious. The young are particularly suscep- 
tible to the influence of these narcotics. If a 
young man becomes intemperate before he 
is twenty years of age, he rarely lives to thirty. 
If a young man uses tobacco while the sys- 



* In the lecture, when delivered, an extract was made 
from another work on the subject ; but from unavoid- 
able reasons, arising from the copyright of the book in 
which it was contained, it could not be printed with the 
lecture, and another extract is introduced in its place. 



OF YOUNG MEN. 57 

tern is greatly susceptible to its influence, he 
will not be likely to escape injurious effects 
that- will be developed sooner or later, and 
both diminish the enjoyments of life and 
shorten its period. 

^^ The very general use of tobacco among 
young men at the present day is alarming, 
and shows the ignorance and devotion of the 
devotees of this dangerous practice to one of 
the most virulent poisons of the vegetable 
world. The testimony of medical men, of 
the most respectable character, could be 
quoted, to any extent, to sustain these views 
of the deleterious influence of this dangerous 
narcotic. 

^' Dr. Rush says of tobacco, ^It impairs 
appetite, produces dyspepsia, tremors, vertigo, 
headache, and epilepsy. It injures the voice, 
destroys the teeth, and imparts to the com- 
plexion a disagreeable dusky brown.' 

'- Dr. Boerhaave says that ^ since the use 
of tobacco has been so general in Europe, the 
number of hypochondriacal and consump- 
tive complaints has increased by its use.' 

^^ Dr. CuUen says, ^ I have known a small 
quantity, snuffed up the nose, to produce 
giddiness, stupor, and vomiting. There are 



68 THE MORAL DANGERS 

many instances of its more violent effects, 
even of its proving a mortal poison.' 

^^ Dr. Darwin says, ' It produces diseases 
of the salivary glands and the pancreas, and 
injures the power of digestion by occasion- 
ing the person to spit off the saliva which he 
ought to swallow.' 

^^ Dr. Tissot once saw the smoking of it 
prove fatal. 

^^ Dr. Pilcher details the particulars of a 
case of a medical student whom he had been 
requested to see. ' This gentleman suffered 
under all the symptoms of phthisis. There 
was muco-purulent expectoration, night 
sweats, &c. The mucous membrane of the 
throat, epiglottis, and the neighboring parts, 
were coated with a brown fur. The patient 
had been an immoderate snuff-taker ; he was 
told to discontinue the snuff ; he did so and 
recovered.' 

^^ Dr. Chapman says, ^ By a member of 
Congress from the west, in the meridism 
of life, and of a very stout frame, I was 
some time since consulted ; he told me that, 
from having been one of the most healthy 
and fearless of men, he had become ^^ sick all 
over, and timid as a girl." He could not 



OP YOUNG MEN. 69 

even present a petition to Congress, much 
less say a word concerning it, though he 
had long been a practising lawyer, and 
served much in legislative bodies. By any 
ordinary noise he was startled or thrown into 
tremulousness, and afraid to be alone at 
night. His appetite and digestion were 
gone, he had painful sensations at the pit 
of his stomach, and unrelenting constipated 
bowels. During the narrative of his suffer- 
ing, his aspect approached the haggard wild- 
ness of mental distemperature. On inquiry, 
I found that his consumption of tobacco was 
almost incredible, by chewing, snuffing, and 
smoking. Being satisfied that all his misery 
arose from this poisonous weed, its use was 
discontinued, and in a few weeks he entirely 
recovered.' 

^^ Distressing as was this case, I have seen 
others, from the same cause, even more de- 
plorable. Two young men were in succes- 
sion brought to me for advice, whom I found 
in a state of insanity, very much resembling 
delirium tremens. Each had chewed and 
smoked tobacco, to excess, though perfectly 
temperate as regarded drink. The further 
account given me was, ^ that in early life, 



60 THE MORAL DANGERS 

adopting this bad practice, it grew with their 
growth. Dyspepsia soon occurred, attended 
by great derangement of the nervous system, 
and ultimately the mania I have mentioned. 
But I have also seen the same condition very 
speedily induced.' 

^^ Dr. Franklin says he never used it, and 
never met with a man, who did use it, that 
advised him to follow his example. 

^^ The venerable John Quincy Adams, in 
a recent letter on the subject, says, that in 
early life he used tobacco, but for more than 
thirty years he had discontinued the practice. 
^I have often wished,' says he, ^that every 
individual of the human race, affected with 
this artificial passion, would prevail upon 
himself to try, but for three months, the ex- 
periment which I have made, and am sure it 
would turn every acre of tobacco land into 
a wheat field, and add jive years to the aver- 
age of human life.' 

^^ In our experience in the Hospital, to- 
bacco, in all its forms, is injurious to the in- 
sane. It increases excitement of the nervous 
system in many cases, deranges the stomach, 
and produces vertigo, tremors, and stupor in 
others. It is difficult to control its use, with 



OF YOUNG MEN. 61 

the insane, and though considerable suflfer- 
ing comes from its entire abandonment, it 
cannot be generally allowed with safety. 

^' It is very natural to suppose, that an 
article possessing the active properties of this 
fascinating narcotic, should produce most 
deleterious effects upon health — particularly 
upon the brain and nervous system. 

^^ The uninitiated cannot smoke a cigar, or 
use tobacco in any form, without unpleasant 
effects. How, then, can it be possible, that 
a poison so active can be used with impunity ? 
The stomach and brain, subjected to such 
influences, will become diseased, and show 
their effects, as certainly as if alcohol were 
used. If asked my medical opinion, which 
was safest, four glasses of wine, or four quids 
of tobacco, daily, I should unhesitatingly 
say the wine. Of the two evils, this would, 
in my opinion, be the least. Tobacco is 
the strongest, most dangerous narcotic ; the 
habit of its use is the strongest and most 
difiicult to overcome, and the influence felt 
from it the most baneful and destructive to 
health.'' 

Dr. Woodward also remarks, ^^I have sup- 
posed it (tobacco) was the most ready and 
6 



62 THE MORAL DANGERS 

common stepping-stone to that use of spirit- 
uous liquor which leads to intemperance." 

Dr. J. Cheyne says, ^^ Tobacco is an enemy 
to domestic economy and personal cleanli- 
ness ; it taints the breath permanently, in- 
jures digestion, impairs the intellect, and 
even shortens the life of some of its vota- 
ries." — ''The chief evil, however, in to- 
bacco, taken in any way, is, that it leads 
myriads upon myriads to the habitual use of 
ardent spirits, and opium, and consequently 
to the ruin of soul, body, and estate." 

Dr. Justus Liebig, the celebrated German 
chemist, says, that ''smoking cigars is pre- 
judicial to health, as much gaseous carbon is 
injuriously inhaled, that robs the system of 
its oxygen." 

Professor Shipman says, '^ As a general rule, 
those who use tobacco to excess are much 
troubled with wakefulness ; and when they 
do sleep, it is not 'tired nature's sweet 
restorer,' but a succession of broken slum- 
bers, interrupted by startings and disagree- 
able dreams. Excessive smoking has been 
known to produce a state of the system in 
all respects similar to delirium tremens. Most 
of the narcotics, I believe, when habitually 



OF YOUNG MEN. 63 

indulged in, render the sleep broken, and dis- 
turbed with dreams of frightful imagery." — 
^' The habitual use of any narcotic is liable to 
produce derangement of the digestive organs, 
and through that a long train of nervous de- 
rangements, which baffle the skill and tire 
the patience of the physician. The digestion 
once impaired, the great nervous or gangli- 
onic system takes on a chain of sympathies, 
which are often at a distance from the first 
organ affected." 

I would suggest, however, that I do not 
consider the evil in question as merely a 
physical one ; else I should not introduce it in 
a course of Moral Lectures. I believe it is, in 
not a few cases, a matter of character and 
morals, involving not only health, but virtue. 
I think facts will bear me out in the asser- 
tion, that this habit has inflamed the appetite 
for strong drink, and paved the way for idle- 
ness and dissipation. 

Similar and additional most important 
views to these now quoted, have been 
given in a public lecture by our own distin- 
guished townsman, in the same profession; 
and they merit the serious attention of every 



64 THE MORAL DANGERS 

one addicted to the habits in question, or 
about forming them.^ 

Again : the young are tempted to be Ex- 
travagant. This is the tendency of the 
times ; extravagance in dress, in living, in 
amusements, and luxuries. The ancient fru- 
gality has departed from New England. 
This generation dress in silks and broad- 
cloths. They spend the wages of a week 
in the pleasures of an hour. This tendency 
is not confined to any one class or condition, 
but pervades all. The poorest lad will lay 
out his small change for trifling toys, rather 
than husband it as the germ of means where- 
with to enter business and secure a compe- 
tence. Of course, the only good of money 
is in its uses ; and the question to decide is, 
what are its legitimate uses? What is 
recommended is not of course meanness, or 
parsimony, or avarice. There is a medium 
between a tight fist and a hand so wide that 
it can hold nothing. I am not dissuading 
from generosity, and charity, and ample and 

* Appendix, B. — Through the kindness of Dr. 
Twitchell and Judge Parker, the passages referred to in 
the Lectures are introduced in the Appendix. 



OF YOUNG MEN. 65 

comfortable provision for all the wants of 
life, and such an outlay for proper recreations 
as shall conduce to the happiness of ourselves 
and associates. My admonition is against 
extravagance ; against living beyond one's 
means, and wasting money in the purchase 
of what is needless and perhaps hurtful. 
Some things are fitted to cultivate the taste, 
and foster the love of the beautiful and the 
elegant, and they are by no means to be neg- 
lected or despised ; for he who made us what 
we are, gave us an eye to see the fair and 
graceful, and an ear for melodious sounds. 
-But the young man needs to be continually 
on his guard lest his luxuries should swallow 
up his charities, and his extravagance kill his 
business ; for at his age and with his feel- 
ings, he is prone to lavish his purse upon 
whatever first catches his eye and pleases 
his imagination. The profuse expenditures 
of one provoke the envy and jealousy of 
others, and excite a ruinous emulation. Mr. 
A must have as fine a coat, and ride in as 
good style, as Mr. B ; and Mr. must have as 
expensive a house, and live as well, as Mr. D. 
We may state a few rules on this subject, 
on which all will probably agree, and which 
6=^ E 



66 THE MORAL DANGERS 

would materially aid us in a right practice in 
this important department of duty. 

1. We have no right to spend other peo- 
ple's money, directly or indirectly, for our 
pleasures. 

2. We have no right to expend on useless 
articles what is needed for the comfort of our 
parents, or for the purposes of education, and 
a competence for our families and ourselves. 

3. We have no right to impoverish our- 
selves by luxuries, so as to be unable to min- 
ister to the wants of the poor and afflicted, 
and help support the high and holy institu- 
tions of human society. 

4. We have no right to run into debt for 
articles when we have no means in prospect 
to pay for them. 

5. Although it has been called the phi- 
losopher's stone to ^'pay as we go," we have 
no right to spend as we go ; for it is entailing 
the burden of our support upon friends or 
upon society, in future days, when sickness 
or the disabilities of old age will over- 
take us. 

6. We have no right to indulge in extrav- 
agance merely for its own sake, in order to 
outdo others in our style of dress or living, 



OF YOUNG MEN. 6T> 

and therefore to rouse their envy and a ruin- 
ous competition, when it adds nothing to our 
comfort, taste, or improvement. 

There is a rehgion of the pocket, as well 
as of the church ; a religion of the parlor 
and the toilet, as well as of the closet ; and 
that heavenly mistress of our lives forbids 
our using one of the most powerful of the 
gifts of Providence, and the results of our 
industry, for the outgoes of a reckless and 
profuse extravagance. She points us to the 
hour, when the remembrance of having given 
only a cup of cold water to a fellow-mortal 
in need will awaken more true pleasure than 
that of having lavished thousands upon 
^' the pomp and circumstance " of life. 

For the support of extravagance, and for 
the indulgence of ambition, another giant 
temptation — the Love of Money — crosses 
the path of youth. I do not say money, for 
that is not evil in itself; but the love, the in^ 
ordinate love of it, which the apostle pro- 
nounces the root of all evil. I do not say en- 
terprise, and industry, and competence — all 
laudable and desirable — but I say the love of 
money, unchecked and unregulated ; money 
however made, money at all hazards j money 



68 THE MORAL DANGERS 

by fair means, if possible, but money at all 
events. This gangrene is working deeply 
in the national flesh. It has already branded 
as sordid the American character. It has 
aroused the old world against the new for 
swindling on a public scale, and the repudia- 
tion of state debts. It has extensively cor- 
rupted the great fountains of national and 
individual good faith, and made us a by-word 
and a hissing, far and wide. 

Never, perhaps, since Adam Avas driven 
out from Eden, have finer opportunities been 
given to the great mass of men tt) earn an 
honorable livelihood, and to lay up a reason- 
able competence for sickness, accident, or 
old age, than in this country. He that is 
poor is so, in many cases, though not in 
all, from idleness, intemperance, poor calcu- 
lation, and extravagance. But, with all these 
boundless resources before us, we are so 
liable to become engrossed in mere money- 
making, as to forget that that is not the 
great end of life itself, but only the means 
to an end far higher and nobler. The warn- 
ing was given of old, and it should rever- 
berate nowhere more loudly than through 
our busy cities, and along our industrious 



OF YOUNG MEN. 69 

rivers, and among our toiling workshops, 
" He that maketh haste to be rich shall not 
be innocent." We may gain the world and 
lose ourselves. We may neglect the culture 
of mind and heart, and, with thousands in 
bank stock, we may yet be bankrupt in 
character. These are all very trite and com- 
mon-place remarks ; and I am afraid, my 
young friends, you will not pay so much 
attention to them as they deserve ; but they 
are nevertheless true and important, and 
most intimately concern your welfare. For 
you know the grand master-passion of this 
nation, and how truly Mammon is the god 
of this world. You will agree with me, that 
if there ever was an age or a people where 
the apostolic exhortations needed to be 
poured into the ear, and rung through the 
heart, peal on peal, it is here and now. 
" But they that will be rich fall into tempta- 
tion and a snare, and into many foolish and 
hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruc- 
tion and perdition. For the love of money 
is the root of all evil ; which, while some 
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, 
and pierced themselves through with many 
sorrows. But thou," O young man, ^^flee 



70 



THE MORAL DANGERS 



these things ; and follow after righteousness, 
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." 

Some young men are in danger of ruin 
from idleness and thriftlessness. They mis- 
spend their time in the shops, and cellars, 
and bar-rooms, and are fast educating them- 
selves, in the street school, for a miserable, 
shiftless, and dissipated manhood and old 
age ; but another and larger class, with many 
most honorable and laudable plans and mo- 
tives, are in danger of the other temptation 
now under consideration. So hard is life, so 
difficult is the golden mean ! Even enter- 
prise may run into speculation, and thrift 
may degenerate into meanness, and the love 
of money may conquer the love of right. It 
is needful to repeat, and reiterate, therefore, 
the truism, that no gain, however great, can 
compensate for one iota of dishonesty ; and 
that to barter one's self-respect, and sweet 
consciousness of an upright soul, is a very 
poor bargain, though we may be able to 
enter, by credit on the other side of the 
book, thousands and tens of thousands of 
dollars. And when we consider how many 
mischiefs flow from this engrossing passion 
— the absorption of the whole heart in the 



OF YOUNG MEN. 71 

things that perish — the prostitution of the 
soul in sordid schemes — the sacrifice of 
honesty — and the violation of truth — the 
mean tricks and artifices to which men will 
stoop — the pursuit of some callings which 
strike a death-blow at the good order and 
happiness of the community — the invest- 
ment of capital in questionable modes — the 
pride and luxury engendered — the envy and 
jealousy of the less fortunate — the hot and 
angry competitions — the rank overgrowth 
of cares and perplexities — we wonder not 
that so many wreck health, respectability, 
and virtue, in the tremendous game. It is 
this passion that sows discord in families, 
and sets friend against friend. It is this, in 
no slight degree, that unleashes the bull-dogs 
of war, and embroils the peace of nations. 
It is this that builds the slave-ship, and the 
distillery, and opens the brothel and the 
dram-shop. It is the love of money that 
bows the soul from its manly independence 
to cringe for office, and to truckle for favor 
with the minions of power. It is anti-re- 
publican, and wars against the purity of our 
free institutions. It is this intense eagerness, 
too, for gain, that is still ready, as of old, if 



72 THE MORAL DANGERS 

not to sell the Lord of life and glory for 
thirty pieces of silver, yet to barter the im- 
mortal principles of truth and humanity, for 
which he died on the cross, for the sake of 
'' filthy lucre." 

To the young men of this educated and 
Christian community I would say, then. 
" Beware of making Mammon your god ; 
never desire, like Midas, that all you touch 
may turn to gold ; there are better things 
even than money ; there is such a thing as a 
poor rich man ; and, thank Heaven, such a 
thing, too, as a rich poor man. Be content 
with steady and moderate profits, with hon- 
est gains, and aspire not for sudden riches. 
Terrible, though smooth and insidious, are 
the temptations, which beset you in the 
business transactions of life ; and it Avill 
require all the firmness of steel to resist the 
adversary. If you would shun, not barely 
fraud, and forgery, and theft ; but if you 
would be that ^^ noblest work of God, an 
honest man ; " if you would steer clear of the 
rocks of speculation on which a thousand 
richly-laden ships have foundered; if you 
would resist the tendency to overtrade and 
overwork, and to carry more sail than bal- 



OF YOUNG MEN. 73 

last ; if you would be strictly just in all your 
dealings, strictly true to all your promises, 
and ^^ owe no man any thing, but to love 
one another," every muscle and sinew of 
your moral constitution will be put to the 
test. It will be no child's play, but a task 
for heroes. You will need all good mo- 
tives, and all possible self-vigilance ; you will 
want all good angels to help you walk with- 
out stumbling or turning aside in the strait 
and narrow path of honesty and righteous- 
ness. But of him who says there is no 
such peril, and casts himself into the turmoil 
of the world without care or resolution, I 
should fear, if not the open ruin of the 
swindler, at least the gradual undermining 
of those great and noble elements of a young 
man's character, for which all the gold in 
the universe would furnish not the least 
compensation. ^^ And what I say unto you, 
I say unto all, of every age. Watch, lest ye 
enter into this temptation." 

I have thus spoken of some of the perils 
which are about the path of the young 
man. I might speak longer of them. I have 
given specimens, rather than the sum total. 
And I would further say, that our tempta* 
7 



74 THE MORAL DANGERS 

tions do not come upon us labelled and her- 
alded, so that we can recognize them at once. 
If they did, easy would be the work of self- 
control. But they approach in disguise. 
They steal upon us unawares. They insin- 
uate themselves, little by little, into our too 
easy confidence. We shall, therefore, need 
all our sagacity and fortitude to detect in the 
seeming friend the mortal enemy. To sleep, 
therefore, is destruction. To remit the eter- 
nal Avatch is to invite attack. Do not sup- 
pose, again, that the mere impulses of youth, 
good and generous though they be, can carry 
you safely through the dangers of your con- 
dition. Only firm and well-established prin- 
ciples can present an impenetrable shield 
against corruption. There must be a self- 
sustained principle within, and a strength 
from above to ward off all ^^ the fiery darts ; " 
for ^* whoso despiseth little things even, shall 
fall little by little." It is only by '' taking 
heed " to his conduct, according ^^ to the 
ivord of God, that the young man can 
cleanse his way." 

In conclusion : ^' There is no moral object," 
says one of our distinguished American fe- 



OF YOUNG MEN. 75 

male writers,"^ ^^ so beautiful to me as a con- 
scientious young man. I watch him as I do 
a star in the heavens. Clouds may be before 
him, but we know that his light is behind 
them, and will beam again. The blaze of 
others' popularity may outshine him, but we 
knoAv that, though unseen, he illuminates 
his own sphere. He resists temptation, not 
without a struggle, for that is not virtue ; but 
he does resist and conquer. He hears the 
sarcasm of the profligate, and it stings him, 
for that is the trial of virtue ; but heals the 
wound with his own pure touch. He heeds 
not the watchword of fashion, if it lead 'to 
sin. The atheist, who says, not only with his 
heart but with his lips, there is no God, con- 
trols him not ; he sees the hand of creating 
God, and rejoices in it. Woman is sheltered 
by fond arms and loving counsels ; old age 
is protected by its experience, and manhood 
by its strength ; but the young man stands, 
amid the temptations of the world, like a 
self-balanced tower. Happy is he who seeks 
and gains the prop and shelter of morality ! 
Onward, then, conscientious youth ! Raise thy 

* Mrs. Gilman. 



76 



MORAL DANGERS OF YOUNG MEN. 



standard, and nerve thyself for goodness. If 
God have given thee intellectual power, 
awaken it in that cause. Never let it be said 
of thee, ^ He helped to swell the tide of sin 
by pouring his influence into its channels.' 
If thou art feeble in mental strength, thrDw 
not that drop into a polluted current. Awake, 
arise, young man ; assume the beautiful garb 
of virtue. It is fearfully easy to sin ; it is 
diflicult to be pure and holy. Put on thy 
strength, then. Let Truth be the lady of thy 
love ; defend her." 



LECTURE III. 

THE MORAL DUTIES OF YOUNG MEN. 



Your attention has been directed, in the 
two previous Lectures, to some of the most 
prominent Moral Dangers to which young 
men are exposed in our community. Let us 
now turn from the negative side to the posi- 
tive, and from what ought not to what ought 
to be done. The field of the Moral Duties 
of the young is vast in extent ; and requires 
volumes, not lectures, to exhaust it. The 
most that can be done, is, to touch here and 
there upon some of the essential points, and 
trust the rest to common sense and an en- 
lightened sentiment of moral obligation. 

It was the direction of a wise and great 
man of old. ''Let no man despise thy 
youth." It is a maxim of profound truth. 
But we may add, without presumption, '' Do 

not despise it thyself." I am not entering 

7 # 



78 THE MORAL DUTIES 

here a plea in favor of pride or arrogance, of 
lofty looks or disdainful behavior. It is no 
part of true Self-respect to think more highly 
of ourselves, or more meanly of others, than 
we ought to think. By self-respect, I do not 
mean that inflammable jealousy, that is ready 
to take fire on every occasion, as if slighted 
or insulted, by not being put forward into 
^^ the uppermost rooms and the chief seats ; '* 
nor is a manly self-respect to be confounded 
with that sensitive feeling of honor, so called, 
which snaps asunder the closest bands of 
friendship, and hesitates not to wash out a 
fictitious stain with a brother's blood. It is a 
poor sense of personal dignity, too, that has 
no deeper basis than one's ancestry, or family, 
fortune, or calling in life. 

" Honor and shame from no condition rise ; 
Act well your part ; there all the honor lies." 

^^ I am a man," is better ground for respect- 
ing one's self than to be king or president. 
The human in us is infinitely superior to the 
conventional. I am a man, should be the 
feeling of every one ; and therefore I ought 
to be and do all that becomes a man ; to fill 
that noble circle of duty and character to the 



OF YOUNG MEN. 79 

outermost rim, and to cast away all that is 
unmanly in sentiment and conduct. Thus 
defined and illustrated, self-respect is the 
key-stone in the arch of a true manhood. 
It binds all the virtues together. Without it, 
virtue itself is but a name. And he, who 
would not be despised and despicable in his 
youth, must respect himself. He must rever- 
ence that nature which God has given him, 
and which is created in the divine likeness. 
He must think with awe of his mysterious 
being and existence, and bow with wonder in 
view of that eternal destiny which is before 
him. Such a self-respect is as far removed 
from a swollen pride and paltry self-esteem, 
as it is from meanness and abjectness of 
spirit. It implies a knowledge of what is 
due to God and our fellow-creatures, as 
much as to ourselves. 

There is complaint that the young some- 
times ape the bearing of manhood before 
they have reached its age and dignity ; that 
sons have their own way with their fathers, 
and daughters with their mothers ; that ap- 
prentices manage their masters, and scholars 
govern their teachers. This tendency is not 
imaginary. It doubtless springs partly from 



80 



THE MORAL DUTIES 



the very spirit of our institutions. Self-gov- 
ernment, self-will, a sensitive impatience of 
all restraint, a mouth too tender to bear the 
bit, are the overgrowth of our teeming soil 
of freedom. So with all blessings must be 
matched their drawback, so with all evils are 
mingled some blessed drops of alleviation. 
But, to revert to the topic in hand, this pre- 
cocity in youth is no true self-respect. It is 
no manly dignity of spirit, that prompts a 
young person to transcend his sphere. To 
flout at just authority, is not manliness, but 
meanness. He who attempts to embroil a 
school, or harass a public meeting, may seem 
to himself, and his befooled companions, as 
doing something very smart ; but, in the eyes 
of better judges, he is still the animal with 
long ears, though he may have put on the 
skin of the lion. He who justly respects 
himself, will regard the rights and feelings 
of others ; but he who has no reverence for 
his own more than kingly nature and sublime 
destiny, and feels no grand stirrings of hope 
and immortality, will trample on others as 
readily as he does on himself. If we have 
the right idea in this matter, we shall not 
respect ourselves so much for those things in 



OF YOUNG MEN. 81 

which we differ from other merij — as the 
house we live in, the garments we wear, our 
property, or standing in society, — as for those 
powers and qualities in which we may be 
rivalled by the poorest and most obscure 
members of society. ^^ Is not the life more 
than meat, and the body than raiment ? '' A 
young man cannot learn too early, that the 
easy swagger, the flippant speech, the ready 
oath, the cigar puffed in the face of the town, 
the glass tossed off among admiring associ- 
ates, are no marks of real dignity, but that 
they lower him in the respect of others as 
much as they do in fact in his own. Let 
there be independence and manliness ; but, 
for the honor of human nature and the divine 
handiwork, do not suppose they consist in the 
elegant dress, or watches, or rings ; in super- 
cilious haughtiness, or vulgar coarseness of 
manners. Let the young man respect him- 
self ; but do not let him run into the mistake 
that, to do that, he must despise others. He 
must learn to discriminate between the gen- 
uine and the counterfeit article ; for they are 
both abroad in society. 

I have called your attention to this point, 
because there is scarcely a more important 

F 



82 



THE MORAL DUTIES 



one in the whole range of our subject. It is 
often the pivot on which the whole character 
turns. He who understands himself in this 
respect, is prepared to act his part well in 
life. He will be saved from a swarm of fol- 
lies and vices, and rise, in all that is noble 
and ingenuous, to the stature of a sterling 
manhood. The thousand petty meannesses 
and littlenesses, the lies and tricks, the arti- 
fices and compliances, which drag down the 
character mto the dust, and soil its beautiful 
whiteness, our young hero will shake off, as 
the king of beasts the dewdrops of the morn- 
ing from his royal mane. 

In the gifts of reason, conscience, affec- 
tion, and aspiration ; in the boundless capacity 
of improvement ; in the great trust of influ- 
ence ; in the present condition and the future 
destiny of man ; in all the sublime possi- 
bilities of power, and usefulness, and bliss, 
that hover over our being, — there are abun- 
dant claims upon us, to '' honor," as the Bible 
commands, '^all men," and it would be the 
dictate of selfishness, that we should do no 
less unto ourselves. If there be manliness 
and high-toned character, it is with those 
who have too much self-respect to stoop to 



OF YOUNG MEN. 83 

do an unworthy act, and will therefore 
neither grovel in the sty of sensuality, nor 
crouch to the fashions that debauch the 
morals, nor yield to the ridicule of compan- 
ions that would entice them to sin. Respect 
yourselves, and you will be respectable and 
honored, favored of God and man. 

There is one violation of this self-respect 
so gross and prominent, prevailing not only 
in this place but in most of our villages, as 
to deserve to be singled out and held up to 
notice. It was, in fact, one chief motive in 
the invitation on your part and the accept- 
ance on mine of the request to deliver this 
course of Lectures. In the language of your 
letter addressed to me, " We, who number 
ourselves with the young men of our village, 
are apprized by facts witnessed as well as 
by frequent reference to them in our public 
meetings, that there is a looseness of princi- 
ple among too many of our young men and 
^boys,' that leads to disorderly conduct ; that 
there is a laxity of restraint which, if not 
seasonably checked, will lead to crime and 
outrage, disgraceful to the character of our 
village. We believe the foundation of this 
evil may be traced to a failure, in many cases, 



84 



THE MORAL DUTIES 



on the part of masters, parents, and guar- 
dians, in impressing upon their apprentices, 
children, and wards, lessons of duty ; and 
that many are led to spend their precious 
hours, not devoted to business, in a manner 
ill calculated to improve their minds and fit 
them to be useful and respected members of 
society." 

In speaking, then, of the Unbecoming Be- 
havior of the young, you perceive that I am 
bringing no accusation, which you yourselves 
have not already framed and indorsed. In- 
deed, it is too evident to have escaped any 
one's observation, that a fearful amount of in- 
subordination has been allowed to grow up 
in our midst, and that, justly or unjustly, we 
have acquired no enviable reputation. I am 
not going to say that we are worse in this 
respect than our neighbors, or better, — com- 
parisons are odious ; but every one who has 
a regard for the good order of society or the 
prospects of the young, must have been often 
pained by their conduct. I would not insti- 
tute any parallel between the former times 
and these, in this particular ; there were 
naughty boys and reckless young men 
even among the Puritans, if we may credit 



OF YOUNG MEN. 85 

their faithful chronicler, Winthrop. But it is 
too plain to require apology or demonstration 
in stating it, that the list of juvenile oflfend- 
ers is fearfully large and increasing in our 
community. Notwithstanding the institu- 
tion of Sabbath schools, and the improve- 
ment of our common schools, and Lyceums, 
lectures, juvenile literature, and many power- 
ful influences brought to bear on the young 
mind and heart, we still have to record many 
deplorable lapses from good morals. And 
lectures to young men, which should pass 
this topic by, would be glaringly deficient ; 
for in your hands, in a considerable measure, 
lies the remedy. Parents, masters, and guar- 
dians have, indeed, a most important part to 
act in this matter ; and it becomes them care- 
fully to consider whether they have used 
their lawful and unquestionable authority 
with sufiicient fidelity and efficiency to abate 
evils, which they are as free to acknowledge 
as the rest of the public. In a charge de- 
livered to the Grand Jury of this county by 
the Chief Justice, not many months since, it 
was urgently and eloquently argued, that the 
increasing crime of our country was attrib- 
utable, in a great degree, to the laxity of pa- 
8 



86 THE MORAL DUTIES 

rental government.* There was not obedi- 
ence at home, and therefore there was not 
obedience in the state. It were desirable 
that that charge should be printed and put 
into the hands of every parent, guardian, 
and master among us. It was a sermon 
from the right place, and free from any im- 
putation of priestcraft ; a lecture, coming not 
from the retired student, but from a large 
and just observation in society ; from the very 
theatre where the secrets of crime are fer- 
reted out, and the causes laid open by trust- 
worthy evidence and searching investigation. 
If such an appeal cannot open the eyes of 
society, and rouse men to action to apply 
the means of reformation, nothing that your 
lecturer can say will produce the least effect. 
It will be only words, words, words in your 
ears ; forgotten as soon as spoken ; mere 
writing upon the water ; a momentary ripple, 
returning at once to its usual cold and glassy 
smoothness. 

I have very little faith in scolding, as a 
means to rectify any evil. At the fireside 
I never knew it to work any great good. In 
public it is ridiculous ; and receives, as it 

* Appendix, C. 



OF YOUNG MEN. 87 

merits, no toleration. And in the case under 
consideration it would probably be as ineffi- 
cacious and foolish as it is every where else. 
Merely to talk and play the termagant will 
not probably increase the energy of house- 
hold government, nor check the disorders 
of youthful delinquents. When all is said 
and done, too, much is to be pardoned to the 
natural vivacity of youth ; so quick, so fear- 
less, and thoughtless. We were all children 
once, and we remember what it was to have 
the blood dance through the veins, and the 
spirit delirious with joy. We cannot expect 
that these impulsive natures will to a punc- 
tilio square to our grave rules, that these 
nimble feet will tread precisely in the steps 
of their seniors. Room and latitude must 
be given for some curvetings and gambols, 
for innocent recreations and harmless sports, 
if we would not mould our youth to a cast- 
iron stupor of face and stolidity of soul. 
In speaking, therefore, upon this subject, we 
would do it with all kindness and considera- 
tion ; with all suitable regard for the weak- 
nesses and temptations of early years, and 
without one drop of bitterness towards a 
single individual. 



88 THE MORAL DUTIES 

But even the patience of Job, long suffer- 
ing as it was, found a limit at last ; and I 
think ours must be nearly exhausted. When, 
after line upon line and precept upon pre- 
cept the evil of insubordination rages as 
before ; when the meetings for religious wor- 
ship are at times disturbed by shouts and 
yells more resembling the Indian war-whoop 
than any sounds heard in a civilized coun- 
try ; when the concert and the lecture-room 
are beset with loud noises without, '^ making 
night hideous," and uninterrupted, annoy- 
ing, and ill-bred whispering within ; when the 
sidewalks are impassable for indecency and 
profaneness, and the entrances to public 
meetings are blocked up by the unmannerly 
and boisterous, it must not be thought strange 
if a little honest indignation be felt and ex- 
pressed. For we shall begin to think that 
these improprieties are not all to be put 
down to the score of the levity of youth, 
but to a settled obstinacy and malice on the 
part of some, who thus disgrace themselves, 
their friends, and the town. And it must 
not be thought strange, or severe, but rather 
an act of benevolence to arrest this headlong 
contempt of public order, if those whose 



OF YOUNG MEN. 89 

rights are trod upon, and whose feelings are 
outraged, and whose property is injured, and 
even whose domestic animals are cruelly mu- 
tilated, shall, other means failing, resort to 
that redress and protection which is given 
them by the laws of their country. There 
MUST BE order and subordination ; and if it 
cannot be effected by gentle measures, it 
must be by cogent ones. If advice, and pa- 
rental instruction, and school discipline are 
insufficient, then there must be the officer, 
the court, and the prison. Better that one or 
five be brought to punishment, than that the 
whole generation throw off the restraint of 
wholesome laws and decent manners, and 
grow up a wild, turbulent mobocracy, neither 
'^fearing God nor regarding man." * 

The youth are not all, of course, charge- 



* It was thought best to retain these remarks, which 
have a local significance, for the evils of insubordina- 
tion are much the same in one village or city as in 
another. It is an epidemical, perhaps contagious, dis- 
ease, and is thought by some good judges to be increas- 
ing. The cure evidently lies in a more abundant appli- 
cation of moral and religious influence to the juvenile 
character, and in the joint vigilance and cooperation of 
all classes, parents, teachers, guardians, and all members 
of society, to see that there is not only law, but order. 

8# 



90 THE MORAL DUTIES 

able with these disgraceful proceedings ; a 
few are sufficient to do a wide-spread mis- 
chief; but, if there is not greater strictness of 
manners enforced, the infection of evil ex- 
ample will be diffused far and near, and con- 
taminate many who are now innocent. The 
younger will catch it from the older, and im- 
prove upon the vulgarity they copy from, 
until the leaven of disorder will insinuate 
itself so widely and subtly as to poison the 
manners and morals of a whole community. 
It is wiser to nip the evil in the bud ; to 
crush the egg before it hatches dragons, and 
" gorgons and chimeras dire." 

Independently of the influence of your 
elders, it is in your power, my young friends, 
in no slight measure, if you will take hold 
of the matter in earnest, to efl'ect a thorough 
reformation. Let the public opinion of the 
young persons of this audience be set as a 
flint against this mean and dishonorable be- 
havior. Let it find no favor in their eyes. 
Let them respect themselves too much to 
give countenance to such unmanliness. Let 
it not be encouraged by their smiles ; as if a 
very smart and witty thing were done, when 
it is only a very foolish and wicked one. 



OF YOUNG MEN. 91 

Let them not tolerate it with a silent and 
unremonstrating sufferance, but speak out 
the fearless rebuke, the honest indignation. 
Let every one do it. Let none stand aloof 
in cynical scorn or misanthropic indifference. 
Let these ill-taught manners find no quarter 
in any portion of youth or age. Let the 
female voice utter its decided negative. Let 
public opinion be our police, and every citi- 
zen be an officer, to see that the tranquillity 
of society be not abandoned to the reckless 
and the rebellious. 

It may be said that it is no very great im- 
morality after all, and that such censure is 
only getting up a tempest in a teapot, and 
that the evil will correct itself. It is a poor 
maxim that any evil will cure itself, much 
less this one. Its tendency is to grow and 
spread unless it be curbed. It may be said 
to be only a youthful indiscretion, and that 
no harm is meant. But manners are morals. 
You cannot insinuate a distinction between 
actions and character. If there is bad con- 
duct, there must be bad or ignorant motive ; 
if wrong doing, then wrong thinking and 
feeling. The outrages in question may be 
idle and heedless ; but that does not render 



92 THE MORAL DUTIES 

them innocent ; for we are not at liberty to 
be idle and heedless in matters affecting the 
rights and feelings of our fellow-men. If 
we wished to train up a regular mob, ready 
at a moment to assault our persons and fire 
our dwellings, we could not take more effec- 
tual measures to do it than to suffer the young 
to behave as they please on public occasions 
to treat our citizens and strangers with scorn 
to show contempt to the aged ; to rebe 
against just restraints and Avholesome au- 
thority. ^'For if they do these things in 
green tree, what shall be done in the dry ? '^ 
If we sow the wind, we must not complain 
if we reap the whirlwind. 

I invoke, therefore, the judicious influence 
of the order-loving and well-disposed young 
men of our community to stay, both by 
example and precept, an evil which is in- 
creasing in magnitude, which is vexing for 
the time, and which is prolific of evils to 
come. I call for the aid of presiding officers 
at all public meetings, to maintain perfect 
order, and to make that an absolute sine qua 
non to the procedure and discharge of busi- 
ness. I appeal to the heads of families, and 
all masters and guardians, that they suffer 



OF YOUNG MEN. 93 

not those under their care, and for whose 
good conduct they have as it were entered 
into bonds with society, to be guilty of '^ con- 
fusion, and of every evil work." * It behoves 
teachers to keep the reins of a strict control 
over their schools. Let the ministers of the 
gospel of peace, the magistrates of our towns, 
the judges and juries of our courts, cooperate 
in their several spheres, and by their various 
means, to eradicate an evil, which strikes a 
death-blow at the very purposes for w^hich 
society is organized, — public order ; and the 
protection of the rights and privileges of 
each by the concentrated power of all. 

In connection with this subject, a few 
words will be borne with on Manners in 
general. We do not expect or desire that 
our youth should be familiar with all the 
rules of Lord Chesterfield ; but we have a 
right to ask that, brought up as they are in a 
civilized and Christian land, they should at 
least be free from gross and disgusting vul- 
garities of speech and behavior. There is an 
intimate union between manners and char- 
acter, and where one is degraded, the other 

* Appendix, D. 



94 THE MORAL DUTIES 

will be likely to be equally low. We have 
the substantials of great happiness and a beau- 
tiful civilization among us, but the unpala- 
table truth must be spoken — we are rather 
boorish and bearish as a people and nation. 
We do not ^' rise up before the hoary head, 
and honor the face of the old man." We do 
not cherish kindliness of feeling and polite- 
ness of manners. I regret to see our schools 
often so rude and boisterous. '^ Yes, sir," 
and ^^ No, sir," have been abbreviated into a 
coarse, gruflf '^ yes," and '^ no." Children are 
no longer taught to ^'make their manners," 
as the expressive phrase is, on entering and 
leaving a room. When you speak to a 
youth, the chances are, you will receive an 
abrupt, careless reply, which argues any 
thing but good breeding, and makes you 
regret that you said any thing. The North 
American Indians surpassed their successors 
on the same soil for courtesy of manners, and 
their council-fires never looked upon scenes 
like those enacted in the capitol of this civil- 
ized nation, where we profess to send, and 
probably do, our representative men. When 
we see the rudeness and cruel disregard of 
the feelings and rights of others among the 



I 



OF YOUNG MEN. 96 



youth of our land ; when we consider the 
tortures, only less than those inflicted by the 
Inquisition, which our school-teachers are 
often compelled to endure ; when we witness 
the impudence and brass of young persons, 
who have good opportunities to know what 
is decent and proper, — I feel that hardly any 
saying is more needed among us than that 
of the apostle, ^^ Be courteous, be courte- 
ous." It is no part of true manliness to be 
impolite, and abusive, and scornful in one's 
conduct. It gains no esteem from others, 
and no approbation from our own hearts in 
their better moments. A great deal must 
be done to correct our morals, and quite as 
much, perhaps, to rectify our manners. I 
am not arguing for the niceties of fashionable 
etiquette, or the graces of court-circles ; but 
we republicans and freemen ought not to be 
ashamed to be very well behaved. There is 
a Christian politeness, that smooths with a 
respectful and gentle demeanor the rough 
collisions of life, and, while it treats seniors 
and superiors with reverence, and equals with 
dignity, does not forget that we owe to the 
poorest and humblest, to the beggar or the 
colored person, civility and courtesy. 



96 THE MORAL DUTIES 

It has been said by naturalists, that in the 
acorn is contained the whole future oak in a 
miniature form ; trunk, and branch, and root, 
all coiled up in invisible minuteness, in the 
germ, and ready at the favorable moment to 
unfold in massive size and strength, striking 
its roots into the heart of the earth, and lift- 
ing up its head to the heavens. So the 
youth of to-day are the next generation in 
germ and bud. Whatever is popular and 
current among them, — the habits, manners, 
principles, now in exercise, — will stand out 
in bold relief hereafter, and constitute the 
grand characteristics of society. Let your 
behavior and manners, now, be such that 
you would not be unwilling to have them 
magnified a hundred times, and extended 
over new generations, and sent down through 
coming ages. Act not only for yourselves, 
but for your country and mankind. 

Viewed even in the humblest light, good 
manners are a species of passport to the ac- 
quaintance of the world ; a letter of recom- 
mendation and introduction to desirable so- 
ciety, which cannot be lost in fire or flood. 
There are many eligible situations in life 
for which young persons utterly disqualify 



OF YOUNG MEN. 97 

themselves, when they grow up disrespectful 
and unmannerly. And then, when we con- 
sider how important the bearing of these 
things is upon the character, and how they 
make or mar a true manhood, we cannot be so 
devoid of sense and soul, as to neglect what 
is so indissolubly connected with our own 
happiness and that of others. Do not say 
these are little things, and that it is no matter 
what the rivulets are, if the river is pure ; 
for it is the rivulets that make the river. 
Life is composed of little things, and a wise 
man will not despise a single one. The 
million fibres do not more certainly go to 
form the fabric of the garment, or the incon- 
ceivable multitude of the sunbeams, direct, 
reflected, and refracted, to constitute the glo- 
rious noon-tide, than all the little particulars, 
the events, the affairs, the news, the weather, 
the business, the behavior, the words, the 
health, the dress, the food, the associates, 
the house, the work, the book, the plan, the 
prospects, to swell the grand total of our 
happiness or our misery. Into this problem 
of life, the gentleness or rudeness of our 
speech, the civility or coldness of our man- 
ners, the scorn or respect of our bearing, the 
9 G 



98 THE MORAL DUTIES 

kind consideration or the hard-hearted reck- 
lessness of our treatment of others, enter as 
most important elements. I rejoice to be- 
lieve that there is no inconsiderable portion 
of our young men, who know what belongs 
to the character of a Christian gentleman, 
and who will copy it into their own ; and 
who will exert their influence to promote 
decorum of behavior wherever they move in 
society. Let their number daily increase. 

I proceed to one more topic of grave sig- 
nificance to the welfare of a young man. 
The importance of having an Aim in Life is 
beyond calculation. Many live aimlessly. 
They proceed as a carpenter would do, who 
should collect the materials for a house, and 
work upon them at hap-hazard, cutting a 
mortise here and a tenon there, without plan- 
ning how part should fit part, and beam 
beam, and ^^ the whole building, fitly framed 
together, should grow unto a holy temple ; " 
or as an engineer, who should lay out a rail- 
road by piecemeal, a part in one town and 
a part in another, without calculating how 
the gradients would agree together and the 
lines meet. If there is any one sweeping 
accusation that will hold good against almost 



OF YOUNG MEN. 99 

aL men, it is that they live an aimless, from- 
hand-to-mouth life. They live by pieces, 
not by wholes. They do not take aim, and 
aim high, and therefore they miss the golden 
mark. They shoot at a venture, and only 
waste powder and ball. They may hit 
every thing, but they hurt nothing. And if 
there is any piece of advice, in regard to life 
in general, pithy and pungent, and contained 
in a few words, it is. Have an aim, have a 
high aim, and keep to it. 

The beasts of the field cannot look for- 
ward a day. But to man has been given the 
wondrous capacities of hope, of anticipation, 
of inference of effects from causes ; and 
these spiritual eyes, that look into futurity, 
were bestowed not for idle speculation, but 
that we might sketch out a plan of life, sail 
by a chart, and, though liable to be driven 
far out of our course by adverse winds and 
waves, yet still, keeping our destination fully 
in view, and forever steering towards it, we 
may hope at last to reach the haven. Every 
man should have an aim in his business, and 
know what he is going to do, why he is 
going to do it, and how he is going to do it. 
He should know what effects he wishes to 



100 THE MORAL DUTIES 

produce; and study to set in operation those 
causes which will produce them. We talk 
about fortune and misfortune ; but, as a gen- 
eral rule, fortune is foresight, and misfortune 
is miscalculation. Every man is a debtor to 
his occupation, to make it as good and hon- 
orable, and efficient and useful, as he possibly 
can. ^' In all labor there is profit.'' In every 
calling among men, there is room for the pur- 
suit of the true, the beautiful, and the useful, 
Avhich, though not religion itself, lie in its im- 
mediate neighborhood. Every one should 
have something to do in this working world, 
and that something he should endeavor to do 
in the very best style. It is an injury to one's 
character to do any thing poorly. He that 
slights his business will be likely to slight 
his principles. While to aim at perfection 
in making a piece of furniture, or an article 
of clothing, tends to uplift the whole char- 
acter. We are too prone to neglect these 
seeming minutias of our daily routine, and 
not weigh the untold influence upon us of 
the countless incidents of our business and 
labor. 

^^ Depend upon it," says Judge Smith, in a 
letter to. a young man, "that vulgar thing 



OF YOUNG' MEN. 101 

called labor, pains, care, diligence, gives 
better security for success in the world — 
indeed, for the acquisition of every thing 
good — than ability and learning. — You 
should have praiseworthy objects always before 
your eyes, and diligently jmrsue them; you 
must never be weary in well-doing, but at 
the same time you must moderate your ex- 
pectations, and remember that a sanguine 
temper of mind is likely to end in mortifica- 
tion and disappointment, and so discourage 
exertions. No good thing is obtained with- 
out time. The best things are of the slow- 
est growth. This is the order of nature, and 
you can hardly expect nature will change for 
your special accommodation. I have known 
persons not wanting in judgment, but who 
are constant in nothing but changes — ever 
adopting new courses of business — trying 
them for a short space, but not giving them 
a fair trial, and then abandoning them for 
some new project. This is a very great as 
well as a very common error, and accounts 
for many of the failures in life I have wit- 
nessed. Be slow in adopting your plans, 
carefully observe their working, and perse- 
vere in them till your judgment is clearly 
9* 



102 THE MORAL DUTIES 

convinced. I have seen a laborious and pain- 
ful life wasted, all for the want of a little 
more ^patient continuance in well-doing.'" 
Coming from an octogenarian, an acute 
observer of the world, and prompted by a 
deep interest in the young, these remarks 
ought to be pondered by every young per- 
son. The best success in life, indeed, de- 
pends upon ourselves; not upon fortune, or 
circumstances, or friends. The fixed aim, 
the unflinching purpose, the steady persever- 
ance, win the prize. We see, by a thousand 
luminous examples, how much a regular plan 
and long-continued industry can achieve for 
one. By the ^' History of the Pursuit of 
Knowledge under Difficulties," and the rec- 
ord of geniuses who have illuminated the 
world, we are taught that moral rule of three, 
that more gains more, and less loses even 
the less. Homer was a travelling minstrel ; 
Terence, a slave ; Columbus, a Aveaver ; Fer- 
guson, a shepherd ; Niebuhr, a peasant ; Ben 
Jonson, a bricklayer ; Burns, a ploughman ; 
George Fox, a shoemaker ; Cervantes, a sol- 
dier; Howard, a grocer; Franklin, a printer; 
Defoe, a hosier ; Hogarth, an engraver of 
pewter pots ; Shakspeare, a play-actor ; 



OF YOUNG MEN. 103 

Washingtoiij a surveyor ; and Louis Philippe 
a schoolmaster. It was not genius, or for- 
tune only, that have made these names great 
among men, but steadiness and direction to 
the master plan of life. Every young man 
ought to read two things, Foster's Essay on 
^' Decision of Character," and Robert Burns's 
'^ Poetical Epistle to a Young Friend," con- 
cluding with these three stanzas : — • 

" The great Creator to revere 

Must sure become the creature ; 
But still the preaching cant forbear, 

And e'en the rigid feature : 
Yet ne'er with wits profane to range 

Be complaisance extended ; 
An athiest's laugh 's a poor exchange 

For Deity offended. 

" When ranting round in Pleasure's ring, 

Religion may be blinded ; 
Or if she gie a random sting, 

It may be little minded ; 
But when on life we're tempest-driven, 

A conscience but a canker — 
A correspondence fixed with Heaven 

Is sure a noble anchor. 

<* Adieu, dear, amiable youth ! 

Your heart can ne'er be wanting ; 
May prudence, fortitude, and truth, 
Erect your brow undaunting ! 



104 ' THE MORAL DUTIES 

In ploughman phrase, ' God send you speed' 

Still daily to grow wiser ; 
And may you better reck the rede, 
Than ever did th' adviser." 

To have an aim in life gives steadiness 
and direction to the thoughts. It leads to 
the diligent improvement of time ; so that the 
moments are prized as grains of gold wash- 
ing down the river of Life into the ocean of 
Eternity. It habituates the whole man to 
act in concert easily and efficiently. It 
sets all the tides and currents of our being 
flowing in one channel and one direction, 
and their momentum is irresistible. It en- 
ables us to surmount with despatch those 
obstacles which would otherwise rise like 
Andes in our path. It constitutes a living 
staple, which joins in one grand harmonious 
whole all the various efforts, circumstances, 
and tendencies of our being ; and in union 
there is strength. 

An aim is essential not only in business 
and our calling in life, but in social inter- 
course, in intellectual culture, and religious 
duties. We ought to mark out our course, 
and put our foot down, and not be driven 
about by every wind of doctrine. True, we 



OF YOUNG MEN. 105 

should play the fool more than the sage, if 
we did not keep the mind open to new truth, 
and correct our sailing by ever fresh observa- 
tions of the heavens of God, and the com- 
pass of earth ; but it is a very pitiful life to 
pass, to live along in a careless, slipshod 
negligence, snatch the chance good of the 
moment, be governed by the impulse of the 
senses, and the accidental tone of surround- 
ing society. Have an aim for every day, for 
every year, and for the whole life. Live for 
some high and worthy object, as it respects 
your character and influence in society. I 
do not say, aim at oflice or honor ; I would 
rather dissuade you from proposing to your- 
selves any of the brilliant ambitious prizes 
the community has to bestow on her favorite 
sons ; but put your mark high to secure the 
solid esteem of your fellow-men by being 
just, and true, and fearless ; forbearing to all, 
and overbearing to none. It is said of the 
Savior himself, in his youth, that he ^' in- 
creased in favor with God and man." 

So in self-education, and spiritual culture, 
keep before you the lofty eye-mark of a rea- 
sonable and immortal being ; seek to know 
not what you wish merely, but what you 



106 



THE MORAL DUTIES 



want, Avhat you need ; understand your- 
selves, and then march straight-forward, with 
a firm and manly step, to reach the end in 
view. Half of our time is prone to be 
wasted in doing nothing, and a large part of 
the other half in doing we know not what. 
If we desire a better education than we have 
yet been able to attain, wishing alone will 
be a slow method to gain it. We must ap- 
ply the means, and do the thing, as well as 
talk and speculate about it. It will not an- 
swer to be mere ideologists, builders of fine 
castles in the air, but we must be workers in 
earnest. We must procure the books, attend 
the lectures and meetings, do the thinking, 
shape the habits and tastes after a noble 
model, and then we shall not be mere 
delvers on wood, and iron, and leather, and 
paper, and cloth, and clods of the earth ; serfs 
bound to the soil, galley-slaves chained to 
the oar ; but men, minds, living, burning, 
radiating souls ; hearts large, wise, and strong, 
and growing larger, wiser, and stronger. 

Tell me not this is impracticable. It has 
been demonstrated in cases without number 
of the humble and unknown, as well as of 
the sons of genius and glory. What man 



OF YOUNG MEN. 107 

has done man may do, is but half a truth ; 
man may do, and, by the law of progress 
in the individual and in society, he ought 
to do, more than man has ever done. To 
the wonders of steam and magnetic tele- 
graphs, and daguerreotypes, in the outward 
world, there ought to be some triumphs in 
education to correspond in the inward. Let 
there be schools, not only for children, but 
schools for adults. They are already form- 
ing, in some of our cities. Let us not be 
ashamed to confess that we have not finished 
our education ; nay, more, hold the heresy 
that we will not finish it until death ; that 
we will be ever learning and ever coming to 
the knowledge of some new truth ; that, 
brushing aside the butterfly tribe of fictions 
in yellow covers, and other paper nonsense, 
we will take a strong hold of that old and 
experienced teacher, History ; of that domes- 
tic monitress, Biography ; of that celestial 
queen. Poetry ; of that star-eyed angel. 
Science ; and of that sturdy workman. Art. 
They can give us lessons that will tell on 
life, that will not only butter our bread, but 
make the earth seem a richer earth, and the 
heavens more glorious, and man more inter- 



108 THE MORAL DUTIES 



1 



esting, and the Creator mightier in his works 
and nearer in his love. 

Study is infinite, and knowledge is infi- 
nite, and the invitation is, " Ho ! every one 
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he 
that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat, 
without money, and without price." 

In this aim of personal improvement, let 
as go to work with a somewhat dogged per- 
severance ; and with books or without them, 
in school or out, earlier or later, let us feel 
that an ignorant young man is a combina- 
tion of terms that ought not to exist in this 
land running over with privileges ; and that, 
so far as we can individually or socially pre- 
vent it, it shall not exist here. And if, rising 
above all literary or scientific cultivation, 
we would reach after the harmonious devel- 
opment and the supreme excellence of our 
being, then we shall look with steady eyes 
of faith and obedience to that Heavenly 
Teacher and Savior, who can instruct us in 
all we ought to know, and guide us in all 
we ought to do, pertaining to our eternal 
destiny. 

The world is full of objects of beauty and 
grandeur. The Almighty has moulded mat- 



OF YOUNG MEN. 109 

ter in lines of beauty and steeped it in colors 
of paradise. We can look out of our east 
windows at sunrise and see a picture which 
it immortalizes a painter even to copy imper- 
fectly : so glorious is the golden reality! 
Moonlight and starlight : the green fields, 
and summer flowers ; the sheaves of harvest, 
and the icicles of winter — all, all things are 
beautiful in their season ! Blessed be his 
name, who suffers so much of brightness to 
linger around so sinful a world ! But we 
look upon a really nobler sight than star or 
flower, or any mere material object, when 
we behold a young man of stainless purity, 
lofty aim, and incorruptible integrity. The 
patriot beholds him ; and in evil times, and 
cast upon evil tongues, his country's hope 
again beats warm at his heart. The aged 
pronounce a mental thanksgiving every time 
they see his manly form, and bless Heaven 
that the rising sun is even more glorious 
than the setting. The philanthropist dwells 
on the vision with gladness, and hails the 
advent of new powers to roll back the tide 
of cruelty and wrong that has so long flooded 
the earth. The Christian rejoices with trem- 
bling, lest so rich a prize should tempt the 
10 



110 THE MORAL DUTIES 

enemy ; and he prays without ceasing, that 
the unspotted mirror of youth may never be 
tarnished by the breath of pollution. 

As a son, a brother, a friend, the young 
man occupies a signal station for weal or 
woe to many around his domestic and social 
circle. A gentle sister looks to him for 
counsel and sympathy. A widowed mother 
leans upon his stout young arm for support. 
A decrepit father depends upon the filial 
respect and virtuous conduct of his son, for 
no small part of his remaining happiness on 
earth. A brother finds in his unwavering 
virtue a prop to his own character. A friend 
reenforces his failing purposes of duty at the 
quenchless fires of his magnanimous nature. 
Men look to him, and prophesy good of him. 
They cast his horoscope without fear. The 
unworn energies of his noble spirit act with 
wondrous life on the dull clay of humanity. 
He brings anew the Promethean torch from 
heaven, to kindle the waning embers of en- 
terprise and goodness. He is a bulwark of 
strength, and a tower of defence. Nobleness 
sits enthroned on his brow, and generosity 
lights up his eye. His hand has the pressure 
of friendship in its cordial grasp. His words 



OF YOUNG MEN. Ill 

are hearty, and his looks sincere. He may- 
be heir to none of the riches, candidate for 
none of the honors, and competitor for none 
of the places of society ; but he is something 
better than either, or all ; he is a man. 
'^ When the ear hears him, then it blesses 
him ; and when the eye sees him, it gives 
witness to him." I see the patron genius of 
his country invest him with the beautiful 
mantle of liberty ; I behold the angel of 
Religion encircling his head with the starry 
^^ crown of righteousness." 



LECTURE IV. 

THE MORAL DUTIES OP YOUNG MEN. 



In entering upon the fourth and last lec- 
ture of this course, so many interesting and 
important topics press upon our attention, 
that it is difficult to select and arrange them 
without doing injustice to some, or wholly 
leaving out others. 

The improvement of Time is one of the 
fundamental duties of our condition. No 
plan of life can avail any thing, which leaves 
out of view this element of power and suc- 
cess. The days and nights, which the Cre- 
ator sublimely marks on the face of the sky 
by the stupendous clockwork of sun, and 
moon, and stars, ought not surely to run to 
waste. The days are given for useful action, 
and the nights for rest and reinvigoration ; 
and these benevolent ordinations cannot be 



THE MORAL DUTIES OF YOUNG MEN. 113 

set aside with impunity. Every hour is a 
treasure, every moment a gem ; and as has 
been quaintly said, God teaches us the value 
of each, by giving us but one at a time. A 
good and happy life consists much less in 
any great triumphs and gains, than in the 
steady employment of our time in the faith- 
ful discharge of our duties. Some mark 
down on a memorandum what they will do 
each part of the day, in order to prevent their 
precious hours from being frittered away in 
idleness or trifling concerns ; and others, that 
do not go through with that formality, yet 
sketch on the living tablet of the mind their 
daily plan of action. At the close of each 
day, also, it is well to consider how far we 
have kept our good resolutions, and what re- 
port the passing hours have borne on high, 
of talents wasted or improved. Unless the 
powers both of body and mind are industri- 
ously exercised, they lose the tone of health. 
The sluggard vegetates, not lives. He is a 
sleeper and digester, but not a man. Noth- 
ing better tends to clear the mind of thosG 
dark, dull vapors, that sometimes shroud its 
horizon, than a good north-west breeze of 
enterprise and useful toil. Good hard work, 
10* H 



114 



THE MORAL DUTIES 



if not too hard, is better for health than the 
nostrums of the apothecary. This drives 
out of the system all the bad humors, and 
sends the gladdening sensations of strength 
and cheerfulness into every vein and muscle 
of the body, and every chamber of the heart. 
The loafer, as he is technically called, is 
necessarily a wretched being ; not only be- 
cause he fails to secure those comforts which 
are the rewards of industry, but because he 
suffers his being to stagnate. While the 
laborer in the various walks of life is using 
his time for the object for which it was 
given, he earns a sweeter enjoyment than 
can be found in all the halls of wealth and 
indolence. His plain food is relished better 
than the exquisite viands of Apicius. His 
rest at night is more refreshing than if he 
slept on beds of Gothland down. In the lan- 
guage of Carlyle, ^^ We must all toil, or steal, 
(howsoever Ave name our stealing,) which 
is worse ; no faithful workman finds his task 
a pastime. The poor is hungry and athirst, 
but for him also there is food and drink ; he 
is heavy laden and weary, but for him also 
the heavens send sleep, and of the deep- 
est. In his smoky cribs, a clear, dewy 



OF YOUNG MEN. 115 

heaven of rest envelops him, and fitful glit- 
terings of cloud-skirted dreams." 

We can live but one life on earth, and it 
should be our highest ambition that that 
single golden opportunity be not lost ; yea, 
that no part, even the most inconsiderable 
of it, should be wasted, as it passes by us 
from the curtained future into the irrevoca- 
ble past. Titus, the Roman emperor, once 
said, '' I have lost a day ; for to-day I have 
done no good thing." It has been well re- 
marked, that that day was not lost ; for it 
gave birth to a sentiment, that has echoed 
through all succeeding ages, giving both to 
young and old a lesson of inestimable worth. 
All noble attainments in business, or educa- 
tion, or character, are the product of time, 
rightly valued and steadily improved. Time 
is money, is knowledge, virtue, salvation ; for 
they all depend on its faithful use. ^^ So 
number your days, that you may apply your 
hearts unto wisdom." Loss of time is loss 
of being, a species of moral suicide. It is a 
solemn reflection, that there is no amends 
for time misemployed. It is gone forever ; 
no tears nor groans can call forth the resur- 
rection of our departed days. The only 



116 THE MORAL DUTIES 

good they can now confer is to animate the 
dormant feelings of penitence and reforma- 
tion, and quicken us to a more diligent im- 
provement of the future. When you have 
learned, my young friends, how to prize the 
moments as they fly at their full value, and to 
put off till to-morrow nothing which you can 
do to-day, you will have mastered the grand 
secret of human success and happiness. In 
the " Night Thoughts " of Young are many 
brilliant passages bearing upon this subject ; 
and the following strain, by a distinguished 
American poet, ought to be familiar to all. 
It is entitled ^' The Psalm of Life ; what the 
heart of the young man said to the Psalmist.'' 

"Tell me not, in mournful numbers, 
Life is but an empty dream ! 
For the soul is dead that slumbers, 
And things are not what they seem. 

"Life is real! Life is earnest! 
And the grave is not its goal ; 
< Dust thou art, to dust returnest,' 
Was not spoken of the soul. 

"Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
Is our destined end or way ; 
But to act, that each to-morrow 
Find us farther than to-day 



OF YOUNG MEN. 117 

" Art is long, and Time is fleeting, 

And our hearts, though stout and brave, 
Still, like muffled drums, are beating 
Funeral marches to the grave. 

" In the world's broad field of battle, 
In the bivouac of life, 
Be not like dumb, driven cattle! 
Be a hero in the strife! 

"Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! 
Let the dead Past bury its dead! 
Act, — act, in the living Present! 
Heart within, and God o'erhead ! 

" Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 
And, departing, leave behind us 
Footsteps on the sands of time; — 

"Footsteps, that perhaps another, 
Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 
Seeing, shall take heart again. 

"Let us, then, be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate; 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Learn to labor and to wait." 



The formation of Habits is another point, 
which demands the early and assiduous at- 



118 



THE MORAL DUTIES 



tention of every young man. This subject 
has been hammered upon so often and long 
by morahsts and preachers, that it has lost 
the gloss of novelty ; but it is none the less 
important for all that, and none the less 
should it enter largely into the consideration 
of every one who would not fail of life's 
great good. We may repeat a dozen times 
that habit is a second nature ; that the child 
is father to the man ; that like youth, like 
age ; but it is no easy task to induce the san- 
guine spirit of the young to believe it, and 
practise accordingly. It goes in at one ear 
and out at the other. Could they be made 
to understand — and may Heaven grant its 
aid — that in the first ten, fifteen, or twenty 
years, they stamp the character for time, 
perhaps for eternity, they would pursue very 
different lines of conduct from what we 
now witness in many young persons. Could 
they pungently feel that what is now fluid 
will soon be solid, and what is now muscle 
will be bone, they would take more pains 
in moulding and modelling their habits after 
the noblest pattern. 

The Creator has compounded our nature 
with high capacities and with fearful pro- 



OF YOUNG MEN. 119 

pensities — all for good — all for use — all 
for happiness — not a single one of which 
can be spared without marring the matchless 
whole, yet liable, imminently liable, to go 
far astray, and therefore requiring a constant 
hand upon the reins, an open eye upon the 
way, and a soul strong in God. For when 
we look around us upon the victims of ap- 
petite and passion, torn, and plagued, and 
harassed to death by some monstrous desire 
and habit they have been nursing into 
strength and fury, — here one with a thirst 
like a leech for strong drink, and there one 
with a raging lust for forbidden pleasures ; 
here a greediness for riches which all the 
treasures of kingdoms could not satisfy, and 
there an irritable temper that catches fire 
like tinder at every little trouble ; here a 
proud self-will, that will break before it will 
bend, the fruit of perhaps an indulged child- 
hood, and there a green-eyed jealousy, that 
poisons the sweetest cup of life with its in- 
fernal look, — when we see these perverted 
natures, we weep mingled tears of pity and 
indignation, that men should be so taken in, 
that they should neglect the beginnings of 
evil, and deem life only a pleasant holiday, 



120 THE MORAL DUTIES 

and no urgent work of a moral kind to be 
done to prevent so awful a consummation. 
O, how inexpressibly mournful that they did 
not earlier apply the master's hand while it 
had power to tame the lion's brood, and 
soothe the ferocity of the animal nature ! 
that they did not listen to those kind voices 
that whispered from heaven, and were rever- 
berated from the inmost depths of their 
hearts ! — '^ Children of mortality, bewsire, 
beware ! — Play with serpents, play with fire, 
but tamper not with the tremendous passions 
of your lower nature. They may now be 
weak, and a little wrong indulgence may 
seem to be a very harmless thing, and you 
may wonder that Scripture has laid such 
strict commands upon you, and walled about 
its laws with a wall of fire ; but it is death 
to give these desires habitual gratification. 
They only require license to grow paramount 
in your bosom, to monopolize all the nutri- 
ment and strength of your constitution, and 
prey, like the vampire, on the blood of the 
soul. They only demand a lifetime of un- 
curbed dominion to become dragons that 
will track the earth with fire, consume every 
interest of home, country, and heaven, and 



OF YOUNG MEN. 121 

pull down the immortal soul into the pit of 
perdition." Alas! when we consider how 
many have been ruined, body and soul, by 
neglecting their early habits, and living along 
carelessly, thinking that it was an easy and 
pleasant thing to live, and required no great 
effort, no vigilant attention to the forming 
character ; that it was a very small task to 
take care of one's self, much less than to 
oversee a shop, or garden, or farm ; that all 
would come out about right at last ; that 
God was good, and would not punish very 
severely a few small sinsj and that there 
was no occasion for making much ado about 
the conduct and character ; — when we see 
myriads wretched, myriads dying, myriads 
worse than dead, — we feel that we should 
call upon all the good spirits of heaven to 
help, and the arm of God to be again bared 
for the salvation of his creatures, and the 
thrilling words of the Savior heard once 
more in their more than mortal emphasis, 
^^ Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for wide 
is the gate and broad is the way to destruc- 
tion, and many there be which go in thereat." 
The aged cannot go back and rectify the 
mistakes of their youth. ^^ What is written 
11 



122 THE MORAL DUTIES • 

is written ; " what is done is done. But you, 
my young friends, have the glorious oppor- 
tunity of shunning those rocks upon which 
others have spht. If you will now pay atten- 
tion to the formation of your habits, you can 
nip a thousand sins and woes in the bud. 
Some habits, good or bad, we must form ; the 
only question open to our decision is, whether 
we will secure those which will be props to 
our character, and which by repetition will 
grow more and more agreeable, and consti- 
tute the most unalloyed happiness of which 
man in the present state is capable ; or wheth- 
er we will rivet upon ourselves those fetters 
of vice, which, gathering strength year by 
year, the vigor of manhood and the maturity 
of age will finally be unable to burst asun- 
der. And if we are now rehearsing in time 
the part we are to act in eternity, who shall 
fathom the consequences of the good or evil 
habits we indulge in from day to day ? 

Dr. Lyell, the distinguished English ge- 
ologist, who delivered a course of Lectures 
before the Lowell Institute in Boston, and 
published a book of Travels in this country, 
remarks, ^' Were I ever so unfortunate as to 
quit my native land, and reside permanently 



OF YOUNG MEN. 123 

elsewhere, I should choose, without hesita- 
tion, the United States for my next country, 
especially New England, where a population 
of more than two millions enjoys a higher 
average standard of prosperity and intellec- 
tual advancement than any other population 
of equal amount on the globe." And what 
has given our native land this proud pre- 
eminence? Is it a fertile soil, or a balmy 
climate, or the riches of mines of gold, and 
silver, and precious stones ? No ; for she 
has been taunted with producing nothing so 
abundantly as granite and ice. But it is 
because her first settlers were free, enlight- 
ened, and religious men, and established 
those institutions of Freedom, Education, 
and Religion, which have expanded and 
sanctified the mind and heart of successive 
generations. Whatever evils we may see 
here, we should witness vastly more else- 
where ; and whatever of good we should 
find elsewhere, of the blessings of compe- 
tence, and useful knowledge, and domestic 
purity and peace, and Christian piety, con- 
fined to particular sections or classes, is in 
New England diff'used among all. 

Such is the inheritance we have received 



124 THE MORAL DUTIES 

from our forefathers, and such, maiTed or 
improved, we shall transmit it to posterity. 
The grave question which presses upon the 
faithful conscience is. What shall be done to 
preserve, and perpetuate, and enhance this 
magnificent patrimony ? In answer, it may 
be said, that nothing less than Freedom, 
Education, and Religion can insure the per- 
petuity of the institutions designed to uphold 
those interests themselves. There is action 
and reaction. The people must rally round 
their institutions, and the institutions, in re- 
turn, will leaven and quicken the mighty 
mind of the nation. '^ Salt is good ; but if 
the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith 
will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves." 
The courts, and legislatures, and schools, 
and churches of New England are admira- 
bly fitted to govern, and guide, and elevate 
the mass of the people. Two hundred years 
of growth and prosperity attest their beauti- 
ful adaptation. But they will be like the 
salt that has lost its savor and the power 
either of preserving itself or any thing else, 
if the people do not continue to cherish and 
uphold them. 

It depends upon you, therefore, young 



OF YOUNG MEN. 125 

men, and those of your age, to decide 
Avhether these instruments of sending the 
life-blood through the body, social, political, 
and religious, shall be sustained and im- 
proved, or shall drop into neglect, and lose 
their power over the land they have blessed. 
You owe, therefore, solemn duties, as patriots 
and Christians, to your native soil, and to 
the vast and increasing republic with which 
it is connected. This country has a great 
mission to perform in the progress of hu- 
manity. An American manhood ought to 
be something better than an African, an Asi- 
atic, or even a European manhood. ^^To 
see that the republic suffer no detriment," to 
promote that Education which shall enlight- 
en, that Freedom which shall deliver, and 
that Religion which shall sanctify twenty 
millions of the human family, and those our 
countrymen, breathing the same air, treading 
the same soil, and looking upon the same 
skies, must ever rank high on the scale of 
our duties. 

It is idle to suppose that our good institu- 
tions are a species of machine endowed with 
perpetual motion, and able of themselves to 
go forever. Unless the national clock be 
11* 



126 THE MORAL DUTIES 

faithfully wound up at due seasons, it Avill 
run down and stop. Instead of perpetual 
motion, we shall have perpetual ruin, if the 
people are not enlightened and virtuous, and 
earnest in maintaining their free institutions. 
It is in vain to say that one's influence is 
small ; that little, in its place, is just as neces- 
sary as if it were the hinge on which the 
national destiny revolved. Every man must 
stand in his post, and do battle for right and 
truth, and the grand achievement, the nation- 
al good, the world-wide blessing, is accom- 
plished. Every brick in the wall, every 
thread in the garment, every stone in the 
arch, is essential to the perfection of the 
whole ; and not one can be taken away with- 
out weakening or destroying all the rest. 
Cherish like sentiments with regard to your 
duties as citizens and Americans. Cultivate 
large and high-souled purposes of usefulness, 
a calm moral courage, and a patriotism too 
generous to be tied up in the strings of party, 
and a philanthropy too Christ-like to allow 
itself to be restricted within any less limits 
than the universal brotherhood of man. 
^^ Young America" ought to be foremost 
^* in whatsoever things are true, whatsoever 



OF YOUNG MEN. 127 

things are honest, whatsoever things are 
just J whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of 
good report." While ^^your old men '' only 
^^ dream dreams " of memory, experience, 
and wisdom, ^^your sons and your daugh- 
ters shall prophesy," saith the word, ^^ and 
your young men shall see visions "—- visions 
of truth, liberty, and progress, — visions beck- 
oning them onward and upward in the path 
of improvement and glory. One generation 
goeth and another cometh, that the world 
may outgrow its old ideas, and with fresh 
energy execute new ones. But how fatally 
will this creative and progressive process be 
arrested, if the young men of this genera- 
tion are not faithful to their high trust, and 
if, with blinded minds or sensualized hearts, 
they fail to receive these higher sentiments, 
which now begin to stir in the hearts of 
men, and to reform the kingdoms and hie- 
rarchies of the earth ! 

But never let the public exclude from 
your mind the Domestic Obligations. Let 
the young man never forget his home, and 
the sacred duties he owes to it. Let him 
never disdain it, however lowly or homely. 



128 THE MORAL DUTIES 

He may dwell in richer apartments, and be 
served with more circumstance in after life, 
but he will never find hearts that beat with 
a truer and warmer interest in his welfare 
than those of his early home. Let him not 
forget to honor his father and his mother, 
and, instead of hurrying away to follow his 
own fortunes, even before he is released by 
the laws of his country from his filial duties, 
let him give his young strength to lighten 
their burdens, his fresh hopes to illume their 
darkening age. liet him, if possible, pro- 
vide, too, for their support in their old age. 
We enter upon the duties of manhood in 
this country before we are men either in 
mind or body. Far better would it be to 
linger longer round the old roof-tree, knit the 
frame with firmer sinews, and store the mind 
with a richer education, and a riper experi- 
ence, before plunging into the excitements 
and temptations of the world. Why do so 
many break down in the professions, why do 
so many fail in business, in proportion to 
the number which enters these walks of life, 
unless because, among other reasons, they 
undertook to be men when they were boys ? 
" It is good for a man that he bear the yoke 



OF YOUNG MEN. 129 

in his youth ; " the yoke of parental disci- 
pline, of hardship, and ^^ patient continuance 
in well-doing." 

And in after life, be not ashamed of your 
humble home, your humble family, and poor 
friends, if such were your lot. You may rise 
to wealth and fame, but never forget those to 
whom you once owed every thing. If edu- 
cated, be not ashamed of their ignorance ; if 
rich, of their poverty ; if initiated into re- 
fined society, of their plain but honest man- 
ners. Poor will be the exchange, if you 
gain the pomps and pleasures of life at the 
expense of the simplicity of character and 
the sound, affectionate heart which you car- 
ried from your native hills. 

The honorable treatment of the Female 
Sex has thus far been a hopeful symptom 
in the American character. Even the for- 
eign traveller, lavish of his abuse upon our 
manners and morals, has not failed to pause 
and admire the considerate and respectful 
attention, and the polite courtesy, of our peo- 
ple in this particular. It is a redeeming 
trait, and compensates for many follies. 
And it is for those who are rapidly going 
forward and taking their places in the ranks 

I 



130 THE MORAL DUTIES 

of a new generation, to see to it that this 
high grace of society fall not into neglect, 
but grow apace with the progressive civiliza- 
tion of the age. There is nothing that 
sooner marks a young man as a candidate 
for low vices, than rude conduct towards 
woman ; towards his own mother, it is sacri- 
lege ; towards sisters and female friends, bar- 
barity ; and towards others, meanness with- 
out palliation. There is a hollow-hearted 
flattery, which some use, who think others 
as great fools as themselves ; there is a pol- 
ished suavity, which may plot ruin, while it 
speaks honeyed words ; there is a fickle-mind- 
ed admiration, which is all devotion one day, 
and all coldness the next ; there is a lofty 
air of condescension, which as good as says, 
'' See how attentive and polite we, lords of 
the creation, are to the weaker sex ; " and 
there is a formal squareness of manners, that 
bows just so low, and walks on the right 
side, and gives the arm, or the hand, at the 
proper moment, without one throb of honest 
respect. I need not say that it is none of 
these spurious forms of courtesy of which I 
now speak, but of that delicate and high- 
minded reverence that honors woman as the 



OF YOUNG MEN. 131 

equal of man. It is time this folly had 
come to an end, of speaking of her, and of 
treating her, as if she were something more 
or less than human. The respect to be paid 
her is not a gift, but a debt. Not on account 
of difference, but of identity, is she to be 
honored as are all other human beings. 

In Conversation, high and grave topics of 
discussion will better please your female 
associates than the idle frivolities of speech 
which some persons use, as if they thought 
it the only language which ladies could 
understand. Be assured no woman will feel 
complimented to be addressed in a style that 
indicates your belief in the Mohammedan doc- 
trine of her nature. Every one who desires 
the elevation of society must be anxious to 
have the tone of conversation raised, and the 
intercourse of immortal beings something 
more than bandying compliments and flat- 
teries, or going round and round in the same 
dull routine of every-day topics. Let a high 
note be struck, and human breasts will re- 
spond and reecho the strain. It devolves 
upon those young persons, of both sexes, 
who are now forming their manners and 
habits, and assuming their places in society, 



132 THE MORAL DUTIES 

to aim at a high standard in this respect, 
and, while they avoid stiffness and pedantry, 
to strive to make the common intercom'se of 
life an instrument of the noblest moral and 
intellectual culture, as well as of the most 
refined happiness. 

But I must hasten to the last principal 
subject of these Lectures, without which all 
the other remarks would be but as a house 
without a foundation, or a column without a 
capital. Religion, by which I mean, of 
course, Christianity, is so thoroughly wrought 
into the whole texture of society, consti- 
tuting the sanction of our laws, and the 
regulator of our opinions and habits, that 
no young man can have arrived at years of 
discretion, without being powerfully influ- 
enced by it, in some way or other, in matters 
relating to his conduct and happiness, and 
without forming some judgment, favorable 
or unfavorable to its claims. It is a subject 
which hardly admits of neutrality. We must 
be friends or enemies. ^- He that is not with 
me," said the Savior, ^^is against me ; and he 
that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." 
Indiflerence is often opposition of the worst 
kind. We may suppose, then, that you 



OF YOUNG MEN. 133 

are either on one side or the other of this 
question ; and every ingenuous heart must, 
of course, wish to be on the side of truth 
and duty. Here is a vast subject affecting 
conduct, happiness, and our eternal destiny, 
and it would seem no one could rest con- 
tented without making up his mind upon it, 
deliberately and prayerfully. I stand not 
here to recommend this or that system of 
belief, or to proclaim any sectarian views, 
but to take a higher position, and to speak 
of that ^^ common Christiauity " in which all 
sects agree. And I utter the opinion with- 
out hesitation, that the young man who does 
not attend to this great law of life, this only 
anchor upon immortality, is guilty of neg- 
lecting his own highest good, and of dis- 
pleasing the kind Benefactor on whom he 
depends for every breath he draws. He can- 
not be innocent who dwells in a land of 
Bibles and Sabbaths, of schools and church- 
es, and, amidst this all-diffusive, all-cheering 
light of heavenly love, closes his intellect and 
his heart to the gracious appeal. No ; let me 
rather be a follower of Confucius, or a be- 
liever in Boodh, than incur the fearful respon- 
sibility of being an infidel in a land of Chris- 
12 



134 THE MORAL DUTIES 

tian freedom and faith. It is a matter of 
rejoicing that skepticism is not so fashionable 
among young men as at the commencement 
of the present century. But it is by no means 
extinct ; it kirks in the by-ways of society ; 
its poison is circulated in surreptitious papers 
and books. But its arguments have been so 
conclusively answered, that its main attack 
now is on the morals and principles of the 
young, aware that, if it can persuade them 
to live as skeptics, they vv^ill not be back- 
ward to accept the skeptic's creed. For a 
bad life will soon furnish reasons for reject- 
ing God and his commandments. Yet, that 
you may not he unprepared to meet the 
plausible reasonings, as well as expose the 
immoralities, of infidelity, you need to make 
yourselves acquainted with the Evidences 
of Christianity. Ponder well the learned 
arguments of Butler, Paley, Palfrey, and 
the Bridgewater Treatises, and they will in- 
vigorate the understanding, as well as ele- 
vate the heart. 

The office of Religion is twofold — to 
restrain the passions, and to cultivate the 
spiritual nature, consisting of reason, con- 
science, affection, and aspiration ; to check 



OF YOUNG MEN. 135 

the evil, and prompt the good. Let us insist 
on these points. 

We have aheady viewed the Moral Dan- 
gers by which you are surrounded — the 
Recklessness, the False Ideas of life, the In- 
temperance, Profaneness, Impurity, Sabbath- 
breaking, Love of Popularity, of Amusements, 
Gambling, Extravagance, the thirst for Mon- 
ey, the lack of Self-Respect, and of a High 
Aim in life, and the Spirit of Insubordina- 
tion. No one can deny the existence of 
these besetting sins. They knock at our 
doors, they walk into our houses, they dim 
the fine gold of youth, and cast its beautiful 
crown into the dust. They are terrible, be- 
cause they steal unawares upon their victim. 
No young man sets out with the expectation 
that he shall ever be a drunkard or libertine, 
a gambler or miser, a rioter or murderer ; 
but he carelessly enters those devious paths 
which carry him farther and farther from 
virtue, until they end in ruin. Temptations 
are insidious and omnipresent. As there 
cannot be a perfect vacuum made in the 
atmosphere, so there cannot be a place found 
entirely free from moral peril. If the sins 
of youth marched forward in Macedonian 



136 THE MORAL DUTIES 

phalanx, they would be seen and shunned. 
But they insinuate themselves, with serpen- 
tine windings, into the deep mazes of the 
heart. They have no rattle to give warn- 
ing, but strike in the moment of fancied 
security. Sometimes they take the guise 
of hope, and again they mingle in the dark 
throng of our fears. They now descend in 
the instant shock of the earthquake, during 
the stillness of a breathless noonday ; and 
now they spread their fatal influence on the 
invisible wings of '^ the pestilenCte that walk- 
eth in darkness." Alas for him that is sleep- 
ing on his post ! How true the poetic 
warning ! — 

" Awake, my soul ! lift up thine eyes ; 
See where thy foes against thee rise, 
In long array, a numerous host ; 
Awake, my soul! or thou art lost. 

"Here giant Danger threatening stands. 
Mustering his pale, terrific bands ; 
There Pleasure's silken banners spread, 
And willing souls are captive led. 

" See where rebellious passions rage, 
And fierce desires and lusts engage ; 
The meanest foe of all the train 
Has thousands and ten thousands slain. 



OF YOUNG MEN. 137 

"Thou tread'st upon enchanted ground; 
Perils and snares beset thee round ; 
Beware of all ; guard every part ; 
But most, tlie traitor in thy heart." 

And the safeguard, the only safeguard, which 
earthly friendship or divine wisdom can 
suggest, is beautifully described in the next 
lines. 

" Come, then, my soul ! now learn to wield 
The weight of thine immortal shield; 
Put on the armor from above, 
Of heavenly truth and heavenly love." 

We have also seen the immense power of 
Habit, joining with these volcanic passions of 
our nature, and riveting the shackles of sin. 
We have seen how the fond mariner will 
tempt that Maelstrom, whose outer circles, 
as he rides round and round, give only the 
sensation of a charming variety and undula- 
tion, but whose centre, to Avhich he is rapidly 
driven on beyond the reach of human aid, 
boils madly round the rocks of destruction. 
Let him beware lest the first cry of danger 
be the shriek of despair. 

For passion, then, and appetite, for temp- 
tation, and the power of evil habits, we need 
the help of Heaven ; and that help has been 
12=* 



138 THE MORAL DUTIES 

mercifully given in the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, and the influences of the Holy Spirit 
of God. Let not the unspeakable boon be 
despised or neglected. 

But Christianity not only delivers from sin, 
— it raises to holiness. While it is a preven- 
tive and pardoner, it is also a creator. This 
is its second office. It is the appointed in- 
strument and motive of all moral and spirit- 
ual culture. Appealing to man by the mercy 
of God and the cross of Christ, by the 
opportunity of this life, and the sanction of 
immortality, it would awaken every hope, 
and fear, and desire, of his nature, to work 
out his salvation. It would call forth the 
dormant energies of the soul. It would 
prompt him to pray, and labor, and toil, and 
strive, and suflTer, and persevere, that he may 
not fail of the infinite prize. It strengthens 
that reason Avhich distinguishes us from the 
instinct of brutes, and enables it to choose a dis- 
tant moral good, rather than an immediate sen- 
sual gratification. It vivifies and enlightens 
conscience, Avhich is liable to become dulled 
by neglect, until it can cut no clearly-marked 
line of distinction between right and wrong. 
It cherishes love to God, and man, and 



OF YOUNG MEN. 139 

Christ, and thus meets the wants of our 
affections. It places before us a perfect 
example in the life and character of our 
Lord, and directs our highest aspiration 
heavenwards, saying, ^^ Be ye perfect as God 
is perfect." This is but a brief sketch of the 
manner in which Christianity promotes self- 
culture ; thus on one side doing away, through 
the mercy of God in Christ, and the sincere 
repentance of the offender, with the evil of 
sin ; and, on the other, making ample pro- 
vision for the largest expansion and loftiest 
exercise of all the moral and spiritual capaci- 
ties of our immortal nature. 

You speak yourselves, in the letter ad- 
dressed to me to request the delivery of these 
Lectures, of ^' looseness of principle," as the 
cause of evils which are there deprecated, 
and of others that are feared. It is an ex- 
pressive phrase ; for, when principle is loose, 
all is loose. Principle ! I like the term, and 
thank you for suggesting it. It is the true 
word. It signifies what is at the beginning. 
Principles are the preliminaries and rudi- 
ments of all arts and sciences, and they 
should take the lead in the great science and 
art of living. There can be no substar^tial 



140 



THE MORAL DUTIES 



and well-assured virtue, no steadfast good- 
ness, without correct religious principles. 
He who, in his unerring wisdom, adapted the 
eye to the light, and bread to the stomach, 
each to the other, with more exceeding 
mercy attempered the truths and motives of 
Christianity to the wants and weaknesses 
of the soul. Wherever there is laxity 
of principle, there is a rivet loose in the 
machinery of life, the balance-wheel is 
broken, and all runs to disorder and confu- 
sion. We do our fellow-men more good by 
introducing good principles into their minds, 
than by giving them hundreds of gold and 
silver. We open fountains of life and peace 
in their own bosoms, which can make 
amends for the loss of every earthly pos- 
session. 

But the value of pure and undefiled reli- 
gion is demonstrated in the poor success with 
which men in general live, who renounce 
sound moral principles. Some endeavor to 
substitute Interest as the mainspring of a 
virtuous character ; but we see mankind 
wantoning in vice, in the face and eyes of 
interest. We witness men quarrelling away 
their property, and a good conscience, flatly 



OF YOUNG MEN. 141 

against their interest. Interest is strong, but, 
like the green withes of the Philistines against 
Samson, it will give way before a stronger. 
Again, Honor is cried up by others as the 
stronghold of virtue. Doubtless, it helps 
to keep those who have forsworn higher 
motives of conduct within the limits of a 
decent morality. But for a mainstay to 
character, it is a shadow of shadows, and a 
vapor of vapors. Honor ! There is noth- 
ing so horrible or base, which men have not 
done under its sanction. For it, man has 
imbued his hands in the blood of his friend, 
in single combat, upon the occasion of some 
trifling difficulty ; for the same bubble of 
air, nation has risen up against nation, and 
shed rivers of gore ; and, for the same empty 
and lying pretence, mankind still seem will- 
ing to act over again the old scenes of wick- 
edness. Yet others appeal to Experience 
and Prudence to guide their feet ; but their 
light shines but a little way, and can shed 
not a ray upon those unforeseen and untried 
emergencies which are continually coming 
upon us in our journey through the world. 
Some may be propped up, from falling into 
abject vice, by the surrounding influence of 



142 THE MORAL DUTIES 

virtuous friends and a Christian community. 
But none of these temporary helps will 
upHft the soul to a majestic virtue, nor effec- 
tually guard it against the hosts of sin. There 
iSj no doubtj such a thing as an enlightened 
self-interest, and a pure sense of honor ; but 
the qualities usually miscalled by those 
names are utterly inadequate to buttress 
the fragile character of man against the tre- 
mendous assaults of temptation. Some- 
thing more potent must intervene to strength- 
en the weak and raise the fallen. Only the 
heartfelt appeal of the gospel, its rock-built 
faith, its hope laying hold of immortality, its 
boundless love, its promises, brighter than 
life, and its warnings, darker than death, can 
so operate upon and arouse the soul as to 
work out its salvation, and give it the ever- 
lasting triumph over moral evil. 

Do not yield, my friends, to an opinion, 
prevailing in some circles, that religion is 
unmanly. It is the only surety of a true 
manhood, the friend of all genuine manli- 
ness, and nobleness of character. It cher- 
ishes all those unselfish, magnanimous, self- 
denying sentiments, which constitute the 
true hero. The poet never uttered a deeper 



OF YOUNG MEN. 143 

thought than he did in saying that '^ Chris- 
tian is the highest style of man." 

And do not fall into the commonj but 
dreadful fallacy, that religious thoughts and 
duties are not for you, but belong to a later 
period of life. It is the sophistry of an evil 
spirit. Now, now is the very season, when 
you most need the advice and guidance of 
the heavenly Teacher. Youth is the pre- 
cious hour of instruction, self-culture, and 
self-formation. The present fleeting span is 
the moment to fix deep in the heart those 
moral convictions and sentiments which all 
the tempests of life shall not be able to up- 
root. Not need religion ! Then you do not 
need light, and air, and heat, and bread, and 
drink ; for to such essentials was it likened 
by him who spake as never man spake. 
'' For it is not a vain thing for you ; because 
it is your life." How directly, and with 
what affectionate personality, indeed, has 
the word of God spoken to your case ! 
Hearken to some of its beautiful sentences. 

^' Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse 
his way? By taking heed thereto, accord- 
ing to thy word." 

'^ I love them that love me ; and those 
that seek me early shall find me." 



144 THE MORAL DUTIES 

'^ Young men likewise exhort to be sober- 
minded." 

^^ I have written unto you, young men," 
said the apostle John, who, when himself a 
young man, was the beloved disciple of Jesus, 
'^ because ye are strong, and the word of 
God abideth in you, and ye have overcome 
the wicked one." 

^^ Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, 
and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of 
thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine 
heart, and in the light of thine eyes ; but 
know thou, that for all these things God will 
bring thee into judgment." 

^' Remember now thy Creator in the days 
of thy youth, while the evil days come not, 
nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt 
say, I have no pleasure in them." 

My friends, there are two roads opening 
before you in life, — one right, and the other 
wrong. You cannot travel both. Begin- 
ning seemingly near together, they end far 
apart. Choose the right one, and it will 
conduct you as surely to final peace and an 
exceeding great happiness, as any cause will 
lead to its effect. Pursue the wrong one, 
and it will as certainly draw you downwards 



OF YOUNG MEN. 145 

to shame and woe. There are few affairs or 
questions in hfe in which moral elements are 
not involved. There is a right method, and 
a wrong one — of living from day to day, of 
pursuing our business, or studies, or recrea- 
tions, and of conversing and acting with our 
fellow-men. Moral neutrality is a moral 
impossibility. The grand, critical choice of 
life, therefore, is to select the true course, and 
steadfastly follow it ; to rise above the fear 
of ridicule, the laugh of the scorner, the 
sneer of the worldling, and say distinctly 
and firmly, like a man, ^^ I am for order, I am 
for religion." Even the poor wretch, who 
has so far forgot himself as to blaspheme his 
Maker, and scoff at the most solemn interests 
of humanity, will, in his remnant of a heart, 
secretly honor such magnanimity. Much 
more will the sweet internal witness of an 
approving conscience and a reconciled God 
put its seal to your choice. 

I might speak of the Means and Duties of 
Religion, as Prayer, Reading the Scriptures, 
Meditation, and the Gospel Ordinances ; but 
they are often tirged elsewhere, and I 
forbear. 

Finally, press home upon the conscience 
13 J 



146 THE MORAL DUTIES 

the all-important question, '' Am I going right 
or MTong?'' for, if wrong, there is a better 
reason for changing the course than could be 
given by seven wise men ; and, if right, a 
better argument for perseverance than could 
be invented by all the metaphysicians. The 
eternal voice of duty, in the heart, must be 
heard and obeyed, if we would not take 
up our habitation in the flame of remorse. 
Fearlessly espouse the cause of truth and 
righteousness, ^^ quit you like men, be 
strong." Dwelling amid the fair abodes of 
a Christian civilization, never forget that 
while much is done for you, much remains 
for you to do for yourselves. At times you 
may be discouraged, — who has not his darker 
hours ? — but '^ be of good cheer, let not your 
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 
In the struggles of daily trial, the spirit wings 
itself for a loftier flight heavenwards. At all 
times, act up to the dignity and responsible- 
ness of immortals. Never sell your birth- 
right for a mess of pottage. 

In the relations of society, as employers 
and employed, as rich an* poor, learned and 
unlearned, influential or obscure, learn the 
noble lesson, To bear and forbear. Be not 



OF YOUNG MEN. 147 

envious of those above, nor insolent to those 
below. Speak the truth without fear or 
flattery. Revere the sanctity of an oath. 
Rush not into temptations which may prove 
more than a match for the strength of your 
principles. Be patriots without anger, and 
Christians without cant. Avoid the extremes 
of heat and cold in opinion and action ; a 
frozen indifference and a red-hot enthusiasm. 
Do not hastily condemn men's motives, 
though you may differ from their sentiments. 
See something good in every body, — for 
there is something good in every body, — 
and learn that wisdom from each which each 
one is able to impart. The little child, the 
beggar in the street, the most illiterate, the 
most vicious, can give us lessons. Cherish 
generous and comprehensive views upon all 
subjects, and aspire to a wise and dignified 
manhood, becoming a Christian and an 
American. ^^ Take heed to yourselves." 
Have the ambition to give the world a more 
faultless type of character than it has been 
familiar with hitherto. Walking abroad in 
this glorious New World, released from the 
manacles and fetters of the Old, Freedom's 
soil beneath you, and Faith's boundless skies 



148 



THE MORAL DUTIES 



above you, dare to be nobler and better men 
than the trembling vassals of an autocrat, or 
the crushed victims of an inquisition, or the 
subjects of the milder forms of political and 
ecclesiastical tyranny on the eastern con- 
tinent. 

My task is done. My Avord is uttered. 
If I should know that it had been the means, 
under divine Providence, of arresting one 
young person in a life of folly and sin, and 
inclining his heart to the love of virtue, and 
communion with God, I should deem it 
ample recompense for the labor incurred. 
And if I should never know that any indi- 
vidual had thus been influenced by these 
remarks, I should yet humbly trust that some 
good impressions have been made that will 
endure ; some new views and motives thrown 
into the mass of causes acting around you, 
to prompt you to sterling manliness of life 
and character. I have spoken, not as a cen- 
sor, or spy, or critic, but as a friendly and 
aff'ectionate adviser, as a brother to brethren. 
And if there is one present, who has wandered 
into evil courses heretofore, most earnestly 
and tenderly would I expostulate with him, 
and entreat him, with fraternal love, to turn 



OF YOUNG MEN. 149 

over a new leaf in the register of life, and 
take a fresh start in a better direction. 

My brother, never give up the idea and 
the resolution of amendment, with the erro- 
neous idea that none care for you, or pray 
for you, and that you are a castaway from 
human sympathies, and it is impossible for 
you to regain the esteem which you have 
forfeited by misconduct. Your friends are 
ready again to give you their respect, and 
the community its confidence, whenever 
they see you ^^ ceasing to do evil, and learn- 
ing to do well." God is waiting to be gra- 
cious. Arise, then, and shake off the dust, 
and stand erect once more in the posture 
of a true manhood. O, strive, strive to 
amend, to improve, and the wishes of all 
good men, yea, even of the bad, and rejoi- 
cings of the angels of God, will go with you. 
" I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be 
in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, 
more than over ninety and nine just persons 
that need no repentance." But should you 
pursue the dark and downward path of 
vice, and incur its dreadful penalties, you 
cannot say that you Avere not forewarned by 
human caution ; that you were not entreated 
13=^ 



150 THE MORAL DUTIES OF YOUNG MEN. 

by human love to repent and reform ; you 
cannot, moreover, deny that solemn com- 
mands, apostolic remonstrances, as if with a 
trumpet blown by more than mortal mouth, 
proclaimed from God, uttered from eternity, 
have been sounded in your ears, '^ Flee 
youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, 
faith, charity, peace." 

My friends, I seem to hear the magnani- 
mous resolve rising up and uttering itself in 
your souls. I please myself with the hope 
that you will yield your conviction to the 
reasoning, your hearts to the appeal. There 
is a pledge already given in the punctuality 
of your attendance, and the fixedness of 
your attention, that you will not suffer your 
better impressions to die away and vanish 
^^like the morning cloud and the early dew," 
but that they will abide, pierce the con- 
science, kindle the heart, and carry you 
onward to a better and happier life on earthy 
and to the unutterable blessedness of heaven. 
So help you God ! 



APPENDIX. 



"that in the mouth of two or three witnesses 
every word may be established.'' 



A. 

(Page 28.) 



" We see the evil of indelicacy of feeling and 
sentiment, and the extreme strictness and severity 
of the law respecting the intercourse of the sexes, 
Matt. V. 28. And yet what law is more frequent- 
ly violated ? By obscene anecdotes and tales ; by 
songs and gibes ; by double meanings and innuen- 
does ; by looks and gestures ; by conversation, 
and obscene books and pictures — this law of the 
Savior is perpetually violated. If there is any one 
sentiment of most value for the comfort, the char- 
acter, the virtuous sociability, of the young — one 
that will shed the greatest charm over society, and 
make it the most pure, — it is that which incul- 
cates perfect delicacy and purity in the inter- 
course of the sexes. Virtue of any kind never 
blooms when this is not cherished. Modesty and 
purity once gone, every flower that would diffuse 
its fragrance over life, withers and dies with it. 
There is no one sin that so withers and blights every 
virtue ; none that so enfeebles and prostrates every 
ennobling feeling of the soul, as to indulge in a 



152 APPENDIX. 

life of impurity. How should purity dwell in the 
heart, breathe from the lips, kindle in the eye, 
live in the imagination, and dwell in the inter- 
course of the young ! An eternal, avenging God 
is near to every wanton thought ; marks every eye 
that kindles with impure desire ; and rolls the 
thunder of justice over every polluted soul ; and 
is preparing woe for every violator of the laws of 
purity and chastity." — Albert Barnes. 



B. 

(Page 64.) 



Abstract of Dr. Amos TwitchelVs Lecture on the 
Habitual Use of Tobacco. 

At the meeting of the Western District New 
Hampshire Medical Society, at the Temperance 
House in Keene, May 5, 1842, Dr. Twitchell, 
having been appointed to address the meeting, 
selected for his subject the habitual use of to- 
bacco, and its effects on the constitution. 

In discussing this subject, the doctor first de- 
scribed the effects it has on the nervous system, 
particularly the nerves of involuntary motion — 
those whose function it is to carry on the action 
of the lungs, heart, and stomach. These nerves 
are placed beyond the power of the will, acting 
without our consciousness, in sleep as well as 
when awake. And it is on these, he said, the 
habitual use of tobacco produces its most perni- 
cious effects, by paralyzing their action. 



APPENDIX. 153 

It first manifests itself in the respiration, which 
is imperfectly performed — the blood is not fully 
purified, and a sense of anxiety or incipient suffo- 
cation is felt ; to relieve which a voluntary effort 
is made to expand the chest to take in more air ; 
and every now and then a deep inspiration or sigh 
is the result, giving momentary relief 

But during sleep, especially when first going to 
sleep, the will not being so easily excited to ac- 
tion, the sense of suffocation is longer endured, 
till, at length, becoming urgent and painful, a 
degree of consciousness is awakened, the individ- 
ual begins to feel his condition, and rouses, per- 
haps suddenly starts up in end in the bed in 
alarm, his heart palpitating violently ; and, having 
obtained relief, soon goes to sleep, to pass through 
the same scenes again. 

But as the habit continues, the whole nervous 
system becomes affected — the muscles become 
tremulous, the sensibilities diminish, respiration 
and the action of the heart become more imper- 
fect, and suffocation more urgent; but conscious- 
ness now fails to be roused to put forth a voluntary 
effort for relief; and the poor abused and lan- 
guishing nerves, whose office it is to stand senti- 
nel at the fountains of life, obtaining no help from 
the muscles of volition, at last are compelled 
quietly to yield up the struggle ; and the person 
is found dead in his bed, the cause not known. 
Yet it is a foolish sacrifice of life to the vile, but 
enchanting habit of using tobacco. 

There are doubtless some few who are found 
dead from disease of the heart. But the doctor 
gaid he had for many years been extending his 
inquiries on this subject ; that he had found almost 



154 APPENDIX. 

every individual, who had died during sleep, had 
long been in the habit of the free use of tobacco, 
and it was his full conviction that that was almost 
the only cause of such deaths. 

The habitual use of tobacco, he said, was a 
most fruitful source of disease. And this would 
appear evident when we consider its effects upon 
the nervous system. It lowers down the power 
of those nerves on which life depends — the blood 
does not fully undergo that change in the lungs 
which respiration is designed to effect, and goes to 
the heart impure and purple — the heart has not 
its original power to send it forward in its circula- 
tion through the body, — and an impure, sluggish 
circulation is the consequence, which predisposes 
to almost every disease the human system is sub- 
ject to. 

Among the diseases caused by tobacco, the 
doctor enumerated palsy, inveterate nervous head- 
ache, palpitation of the heart, disease of the liver, 
indigestion, ulceration of the stomach, piles, and 
many others ; and finally, he said, he hardly knew 
as there was any disease it did not at times pro- 
duce. He did not undertake to assert, that all 
who use tobacco must necessarily have these dis- 
eases fully developed. But he said individuals 
often experienced annoying, and sometimes alarm- 
ing symptoms, the result of tobacco, which render 
them infirm and wretched, while they are alto- 
gether ignorant of the cause. He mentioned 
giddiness, pain in the head, palpitation of the 
heart, faintness, and gnawing sensation of the 
stomach, neuralgic pains, trembling, sudden loss 
of strength, loss of recollection, starting in sleep, 
^c. &/C. ; that he had been called to prescribe 



APPENDIX. 155 

for a great many persons, whose diseases have 
spontaneously disappeared on their discontinu- 
ance of tobacco. 

The particular form in which tobacco is used, 
is not of very material consequence. He thought 
tobacco more frequently produces palsy than all 
other causes, and that snuff is more likely to bring 
it on than any other form in which it is used ; but 
that chewing is more injurious to the digestive 
organs, affecting them in a threefold way. It 
robs the stomach of the saliva, lessens its nervous 
power, and diminishes its peristaltic motion ; and 
that all the cases he had seen of ulceration of the 
stomach were manifestly the effects of tobacco. 



C. 

(Page 86.) 



An Extract from a Charge by Judge Parker^ 

Chief Justice of New Hampshire. 

A CAUSE of the increase of crime, which lies 
at the foundation of all others, — which it is to be 
feared has a greater efficiency than at any previous 
period, — and which is perhaps destined to have 
a still wider influence, is to be found in the 
erroneous education and discipline of children. 

We are exceedingly prone to run from one 
extreme to another. In the early settlement of 
this part of the country, and up to, and subse- 
quent to, the period of the revolution, the disci- 
pline of the school and of the parental roof was 



156 APPENDIX. 

exceedingly strict ; so much so, that there is no 
doubt that in many instances it proved to be per- 
nicious to the subject of it ; and the child whom 
kindness and benignity might have nurtured into 
a worthy citizen, was, by blows, or sternness and 
well-meant severity, converted into a hardened 
villain, and a curse to the community. This error 
of the age became palpable, and, like the sangui- 
nary laws of that time, has in a great measure 
passed away ; but it is to be feared that an ex- 
treme laxity of discipline has in many instances 
been substituted, which will prove much more 
prejudicial to the community than the severity 
which preceded it. 

I am no advocate for that stern system of edu- 
cation which makes the parent a tyrant, and the 
child a slave; — which exacts obedience to all the 
commands of the master, at the peril of severe 
corporal punishment ; — which renders the youth 
a hardened and obdurate outcast, because the dis- 
cipline to which he has been subjected has made 
him ferocious, and dogged, and sullen; and pre- 
pares him to make war upon mankind, because 
of the aggression upon himself, and the punish- 
ment he has received beyond the measure of his 
deserts. But the opposite system of no govern- 
ment, which is founded on the self-stultification of 
the parents, in the admission that their education 
and experience have given them no more wisdom 
than their children possess without either educa- 
tion or experience, prepares their children for the 
commission of crime in a mode more effectual 
than the first. 

The effects of this laxity show themselves in 
small beginnings, — perhaps in a disregard and 



APPENDIX. 157 

violation of the rights of others, by hootings, and 
noises of various descriptions, around public 
buildings, on the occasion of public meetings. A 
signal instance of its results fell under my obser- 
vation very recently, in ^ a village in this state, 
upon the occasion of the time-honored obser- 
vance of the Annual Fast. While the elders of the 
community, (or a portion of them, at least,) in 
pursuance of the designation of the day, and the 
recommendation of the executive, were assem- 
bling in their respective places of vrorship, a 
collection of boys, not inconsiderable in numbers, 
was evincing their want of parental control, and 
their disregard of the proprieties of the time, to 
the disturbance of others, by an exhibition of 
bats, and balls, and shoutings, and sports, not com- 
porting with the solemnities of the occasion. The 
next stage in the career of recklessness and 
criminality may perhaps be some minor trespass 
upon a neighbor's goods, followed by nocturnal 
depredations upon a melon patch, or the robbing 
of a hen-roost ; and these succeeded by offences 
of a higher grade, and a deeper dye. 

Let those more immediately interested, and 
who have authority in the matter, look to it in 
time. Where there is not anarchy, there must be 
government of some kind. If the parents do not 
govern the children, the latter will govern the 
parents ; and there is great reason to believe that 
a very considerable portion of this government 
already exists among us. 
14 



158 APPENDIX. 



D. 

(Page 93.) 



** We are aware, that there are some, who take 
an attitude of defence, when pressed with earnest 
applications on the subject of education. They 
think its importance overrated. They say, that 
circumstances chiefly determine the young mind, 
that the influence of parents and teachers is very 
narrow, and that they sometimes dwarf and distort, 
instead of improving the child, by taking the 
work out of the hand of nature. These remarks 
are not wholly unfounded. The power of parents 
is often exaggerated. To strengthen their sense 
of responsibility, they are often taught, that they 
are competent to effects which are not within 
their reach, and are often discouraged by the 
greatness of the task to which they are summoned. 
Nothing is gained by exaggeration. It is true — 
and the truth need not be disguised — that parents 
cannot operate at pleasure on the minds and 
characters of the young. Their influence is lim- 
ited by their own ignorance and imperfection, by 
the strength and freedom of the will of the child, 
and by its connection, from its birth, with other 
objects and beings. Parents are not the only 
educators of their ofltepring, but must divide the 
work with other and numerous agents; and in 
this we rejoice ; for, were the young confined to 
domestic influences, each generation would be a 
copy of the preceding, and the progress of society 
would cease. The child is not put into the hands 
of parents alone. It is not born to hear but a few 



APPENDIX. 159 

voices. It is brought at birth into a vast, we may 
say, an infinite school. The universe is charged 
with the office of its education. Innumerable 
voices come to it from all that it meets, sees, feels. 
It is not confined to a few books, anxiously selected 
for it by parental care. Nature, society, experi- 
ence, are volumes opened every where and perpet- 
ually before its eyes. It takes lessons from every 
object within the sphere of its senses and its 
activity, from the sun and stars, from the flowers 
of spring and the fruits of autumn, from every asso- 
ciate, from every smiling and frowning countenance, 
from the pursuits, trades, professions of the com- 
munity in which it moves, from its plays, friend- 
ships, and dislikes, from the varieties of human 
character, and from the consequences of its actions. 
All these, and more than these, are appointed to 
teach, awaken, develop the mind of the child. It 
is plunged amidst friendly and hostile influences, 
to grow by cooperating with the first, and by 
resisting the last» The circumstances in which we 
are placed, form, indeed, a most important school, 
and by their helps some men have arisen to dis- 
tinction in knowledge and virtue, with little aid 
from parents, teachers, and books. 

^'' Still the influence of parents and teachers is 
great. On them it very much depends, whether 
the circumstances which surround the child shall 
operate to his good. They must help him to read, 
interpret, and use wisely, the great volumes of 
nature, society, and experience. They must fix 
his volatile glance, arrest his precipitate judgment, 
guide his observation, teach him to link together 
cause and effect in the outward world, and turn his 
thoughts inward, on his own more mysterious nature. 



160 APPENDIX. 

The young, left to the education of circumstances, 
left without teaching, guidance, restraints, will, in 
all probability, grow up ignorant, torpid in intel- 
lect, strangers to their own powers, and slaves to 
their passions. The fact, that some children, with- 
out aid from parents or schools, have struggled into 
eminence, no more proves such aid to be useless, 
than the fact, that some have grown strong under 
physical exposures which would destroy the ma- 
jority of the race, would prove the worthlessness 
of the ordinary precautions which are taken for 
the security of health. 

^^ We have spoken of parents as possessing, and 
as bound to exert, an important influence on the 
young. But they cannot do the whole work of 
education. Their daily occupation, the necessity 
of labors for the support of their families, house- 
hold cares, the duty of watching over the health 
of their children, and other social relations, render 
it almost impossible for parents to qualify them- 
selves for much of the teaching which the young 
require, and often deny them time and opportu- 
nity for giving instruction to which they are com- 
petent. Hence the need of a class of persons who 
shall devote themselves exclusively to the work of 
education. In all societies, ancient and modern, 
this want has been felt ; the profession of teachers 
has been known ; and to secure the best helps of 
this kind to children, is one of the first duties of 
parents ; for on these the progress of their chil- 
dren very much depends." — W. E. Channing. 



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